The Uchiha Sister
by freakyfanficgirl
Summary: Tukiko is the twin sister of Sasuke Uchiha but no one knows her. After hearing that she is engaged at their sixth birthday party, she ended up running away. Six years later, she's back in Konoha. How will she take the changes that have happened? R&R!
1. Tukiko

**A/N:** Hey there peoples! So I know I haven't been seen on fanfiction since....well....FOREVER!!! Well not that long but it feels like it. So I decided to come back because I'm currently obsessed with the anime/manga Naruto and I had this idea in my head for a while. It needed to come out so I wrote this! Hope you like it since this is the first time I've written in the Naruto section. Please read!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I own the character and some of the plot.**

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 1: Tukiko

"Aniki!" a little five year old girl called. The little girl ran through her home searching for her oldest brother. She finally found him in the backyard practicing a technique. The girl smiled widely as she skipped over to her brother. "Aniki! Can you play with me?"

Her brother turned around to face her. Her brother was about six years older than her and he had long dark hair he always tied up in a low ponytail and dark kind eyes stared at her. He also had these lines that were on both sides of his nose. He smiled when his little sister skipped over to him.

"Maybe later, Tukiko. I have to practice or Father will get mad with me."

The little girl named Tukiko pouted. She looked almost like her older brother; she had dark, raven hair that shined blue in the sunshine and was styled in a short way with the back slightly sticking up and she had the exact same eyes as her brother. She was wearing a small dark blue playdress that her mother had forced her into.

"Why does Father always get mad when you don't practice, Aniki? You're only eleven years old!"

Her brother sighed before sitting down on the grass. Tukiko followed suit, leaning in on her brother.

"It's...complicated, Imouto. You're too young to understand."

"I'm not too young!" Tukiko argued, pouting. "I'm old enough to make my own choices!"

Her brother's lips twitched upward just a bit. "Five years old isn't old enough that you can make your own decisions. It's only when you're my age can you make your own choices."

"But that's in a bajillion years, Aniki!"

"Maybe so. After all, you are still just a child."

"But you're a kid too, aren't you Aniki?" Tukiko asked curious.

Her brother sighed. "Not anymore, Imouto." He stood to his feet and pulled his sister to her feet. "Now go run along so you can play with Sasuke. I have to return to training."

Sasuke was Tukiko's twin brother. They were exactly alike in many ways from their hair to their likes. If their mother dressed them up in the same exact clothes, no one could tell the two alike. Even the way they spoke was identical. The only thing that was different about them was their genders and their clothes. Because no one could tell them apart, their mother decided that Tukiko would no longer wear pants so she was always stuck in play dresses, no matter how much she hated it.

Tukiko pouted. "But I want to play with you, Aniki!"

Tukiko was caught by surprise when her brother poked her forehead with two fingers. She rubbed her forehead, pouting more.

"Maybe next time, Tukiko."

"You always say next time but you never have enough time," Tukiko muttered as she rubbed where he poked her.

"Sorry," her brother apologized.

"Itachi," a rough voice called from the house.

Itachi looked towards the house to see their father, Fugaku Uchiha. He was the leader of the Uchiha clan as well as the cheif of police in in the Konoha police. He was well respected in both their clan and in the rest of Konoha. He walked over to his son and daughter, narrowing his eyes at his son.

"Itachi, I believe it's time for your sparring session," Fugaku said, his voice monotone.

Itachi bowed. "Yes Father."

Fugaku nodded before leaving to the dojo where the two usually trained. Itachi sighed when he was gone and looked down at his little sister. She was staring at the direction their father had just left in, a frown on her face. Her eyes were glossy and it looked like she would cry soon.

"Aniki...why does Father ignore me?"

Itachi was silent. He did not want to answer his precious Imouto's question although he knew the answer. It was true that their father ignored Tukiko all the time. He ignored her when passing by her, when they were with their mother, even at dinner. The only time he knew he had a daughter was when they were with the rest of their family when they asked how Tukiko was growing in becoming a lady. When they asked about her, their father would always reply "She is turning into a most respectful lady, just like her mother."

But that wasn't exactly true. He didn't know how Tukiko was going with becoming a lady. Itachi knew that his Imouto hated everything that was girly from dresses to sewing. She was actually a tomboy at heart. Itachi figured that his Imouto had obtained her tomboyish nature from playing with her twin Sasuke and from playing with him. Either way, Tukiko just didn't like being a girl. Unfortunately for her, her mother and father decided from her birth that Tukiko would not train to be a kunoichi like their mother was before and instead study to be a noble lady. Tukiko was forced to take flower arranging classes like other little girls and even had to learn how to cook. She hated these classes but went to them with no complaints. And it would get worse when they were older.

Itachi had once overheard when Tukiko was just born and the clan elders and their father were discussing something. They spoke about how when Tukiko turned sixteen, she would marry a young boy from the Hyuuga clan. Now the Uchiha clan and the Hyuuga clan were not on good terms at all. Not as much as the Senju clan but still not on good terms. But the two clans decided that if they were to marry two of their children to each other then they would get along. If they were to do that then the two most noble clans of the Village Hidden in the Leaves would become one. The Hokage approved of this plan so made it possible for the two children to be engaged. Itachi didn't understand at the time because he was so young but now that he was older, he understood why his sister was to become a perfect lady.

It was so that she could be prepared for becoming a wife.

Itachi didn't know who was Tukiko's fiaance but he knew that his name was Neji Hyuuga. Tukiko didn't know yet that she was engaged but their parents planned to tell her on her sixth birthday. He felt so bad for his Imouto. All her life, she had dreamed of becoming a strong kunoichi just like him but knew her parents disapproved of it. That was why she kept her dream to herself. She even believed that one day her parents would give in and let her become a kunoichi.

That was mainly why their father ignored her. He didn't even want a daughter in the first place. He only wanted sons in his family so that they could carry on their legacy and he knew it would be a hassle to find a husband for their daughter. That was why he didn't want one. When Tukiko and Sasuke was born and after he arrranged the whole engagement to the Hyuuga clan, he practically ignored Tukiko. He would help with Sasuke and stuff but never with Tukiko. Their mother always asked Itachi to help care for Tukiko since their father wouldn't. He mainly focused on Sasuke and Itachi but never Tukiko. That's why Itachi was close to both his brother and his sister than the rest of their family. Sure, he's close to Shisui who's like a brother to him and he used to be close to their cousin, Obito but he died when he was two and with Shisui, it just wasn't the same. So Tukiko and Sasuke were the closest to him then anyone else in their family.

"Father does not ignore you, Imouto," Itachi only said.

"Then why does he never talk to me and ignore me when you and Sasuke are around?"

"Well...It's because your his only daughter."

Tukiko looked up at him, eyes glossy. "I don't like being a girl then. If I were a boy, he would acknowledge me and actually talk to me."

Itachi kneeled to his Imouto's height. "But you're not a boy so you have to understand this."

Tukiko frowned further. "But I don't like being a girl, Aniki. It's so-so _lame._ You have to follow all of these rules like you have to cross your legs instead of regular and you always have to keep them closed. Then you can't run around naked or anything because it's 'not ladylike'. And you have to learn how to cook, how to clean, do the laundry, you can't speak unless spoken to. I hate it! Boys always get to be messy, they don't have to be stuck inside all day and they get to beat up other people! I want to be a boy like you and Sasuke, Aniki."

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle. "There's something about girls that boys can't do, Imouto."

Tukiko tilted her head, curious. "Like what?"

"Well, boys can't bathe with girls, they always have to listen to girls, some boys can get beat up by girls, and boys aren't allowed to wear skirts. And girls can wear both pants _and_ dresses."

Tukiko made a face, her tongue sticking out. "I'd rather wear only pants. It's annoying to wear frilly dresses."

He chuckled again at his sister's attitude then ruffled her hair in affection. "You say that now but later on, it'll get better."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really."

"Well....Okay, I guess."

"Aniki!" a voice identical to Tukiko's called.

Sasuke ran over to his brother and twin sister excitedly. He was smiling and practically skipped over to Itachi.

"Aniki, can you teach me a new move?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe some other time, Sasuke," Itachi replied. "I have to train."

"But you promised that you would do it today!"

"Tomorrow then."

Sasuke's shoulders deflated a bit but rised up again. "Alright! Tomorrow!"

At the exchange, Itachi saw Tukiko scowl. He knew she hated that Itachi was allowed to teach Sasuke new ninja move that were really cool and she only got to learn how to cook or something. She wanted to learn along side Sasuke but their parents forbid it.

Seeing how she was going to be upset, Itachi said to Sasuke,

"Sasuke, for today, why don't you play with Tukiko? She was asking me to play with her earlier but I simply don't have the time. Could you play with her instead?"

Sasuke turned to Tukiko, smiling. "Okay! I'll play with you, Kiko-chan!"

Tukiko smiled a bit but then scowled. "Sasu-chan, I told you not to call me Kiko-chan!"

Sasuke scowled as well, making him look identical to his twin. "Then don't call me Sasu-chan! Call me Sasuke-kun!"

She smirked. Then she stuck her tongue out at him and ran away yelling "You have to catch me before I can call you that, Sasu-chan!"

Sasuke growled but smiled widely. He ran out of the backyard, chasing his sister.

Itachi smiled at the two playing. Although the two twins acted like they hated each other, they were actually really close and almost always together. No Uchiha would see Sasuke or Tukiko by themselves unless Tukiko had her lady lessons. They were always together, even at bedtime and when Itachi was teaching Sasuke a move. The two slept in the same bed and got up at the same time. And when one of them had to go use the restroom, the twin would wait outside for them until they were done. They were the most adorable twins in all of the clans. Not even the Hyuuga clan leader and his twin could match the two Uchiha twins.

But then Itachi frowned. He knew that the two wouldn't always be together. When Sasuke would be old enough to enter the Academy, he would be so busy with studying to be a ninja that Tukiko would end up being lonely and by herself. Itachi hated the thought of his two siblings being seperated by that school and wished that Tukiko could enter as well. But he knew that it would never happen. He sighed. He knew that when Tukiko was told she was engaged at their birthday party and when she would meet her fiaance, Sasuke would have to be there for her since he couldn't. He also wondered how Sasuke would react to Tukiko being engaged...

Itachi shook his head and headed to the dojo to train with his father. Until the time came, he would just worry for his little sister.

* * *

**So there's the first chapter! So...how did I do? I'm really new with the whole Naruto OC writing thing since I'm still rusty at that. I'm bad at making OCs. And I'm not sure if I can write for the Naruto section but I want to see if this story seems good or not. Oh! And I read about Mary Sues but I assure you that Tukiko is _not_ an OC. I think. I'll have to check though. Well, that's it I guess. All I can say is review because I will not update unless I get at least one review. Okay?**

**So please review!**

This short thing is for people who don't know Japanese (but I think you know what they mean)

Imouto- Little sister

Aniki- Older brother


	2. The Birthday Party

**Yay! I got one review! Whoo-hoo! Now I shall continue this story because I already wrote up to chapter four! So the more reviews, the quicker I update! So I should get to the story now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

  
**

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 2: The Birthday Party

Tukiko and Sasuke woke up to the yellow sun pouring sunlight through their window. Tukiko was the first to awaken and Sasuke shortly followed. The two lay there in their bed, blinking away the sleepiness and yawned repeatedly. Finally after a while, Tukiko smiled and sat up. She looked at her brother, smiling.

"Sasu-chan! Don't you know the day today?"

Sasuke stared at her, confused, and blinked.

"No. What is it?"

Tukiko giggled and climbed out of bed. Sasuke watched as his sister look through their desk and pull out something. Then she hid it behind her back and turned to him, smiling. She jumped back onto the bed and pulled out the object behind her back. Sasuke stared at it. It was a brightly colored little box with a bow on top.

"Happy Birthday, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. He smiled and took her gift to him. "Thanks, Tukiko! Wait!" He got off the bed and kneeled to the ground. He reached under the bed to pull out a brightly colored box. Then he stood up and handed the box to her. "Happy Birthday, Tukiko!"

Tukiko smiled brightly and took the present and hugged her brother. The two sibling sat on their bed, getting ready to open each other's present.

"One..." Tukiko counted.

"Two..." Sasuke joined in.

"THREE!" The two shouted together.

They both ripped open the wrapping paper and opened the boxes. Both smiled at their present.

Sasuke had given a silver chain bracelet that simply had a charm with a picture of a tropical flower with two lines on the side going towards a cresent at the top engraved on it as well as her name on the back to Tukiko. Tukiko gave a large shuriken that had four big blades and could be folded into a stack to Sasuke with his name engraved on the ring handle.

"Wow! This is really pretty!" Tukiko exclaimed. She put on the bracelet and held it up to admire it. She smiled at her brother. "Thanks, Sasu-chan!"

"Whoa! This is awesome!" Sasuke exclaimed the same was as his sister. He spread the shuriken open, grinning. He smiled at his sister. "Thanks, Kiko-chan!"

"No problem! But you might want to hide that from Mother and Father. They might not be happy that I got you a weapon for our Birthday."

Sasuke refolded the shuriken, tilting his head at his sister. "How come?"

Tukiko fidgeted. "Well...They're going to ask you where you got it. And if they found out that you got it from me when I'm not even allowed to have it, they're going to kill us and take it away."

Sasuke nodded. He also knew that their Mother and Father never liked Tukiko to even _hold_ a weapon so they always forbid for weapons to be lying around the house. If they knew she got him a big shuriken, they would be even angrier. So he hid the shuriken in a loose floorboard under their bed.

Their bedroom door was knocked on and the door opened. Itachi walked into his siblings' room, holding two wrapped small gifts in his hands. He walked over to the bed where the two twins' eyes lit up with excitement and were practically hopping up and down.

"Happy Birthday, Otouto and Imouto."

The twins gasped and grabbed their gifts. They ripped open the paper like before.

"Wow...." the two gasped.

Both children had recieved a small keychain that had the symbol of the Uchiha clan on it while on the reverse side, it carried the symbol of the Leaf. But they were both different backgrounds; Tukiko's was red while Sasuke's was blue. The metal shined in the morning sun brightly, leaving the two children mesmerized.

The two children tackle hugged their Aniki, smiling happily.

"Thank you very much for the keychains, Aniki! We love it!" The two chimed together; Another thing that was adorable about the two.

Itachi chuckled while patting and ruffling the twins hair. "You're welcome, Otouto and Imouto."

A knocking sound on the childrens' door made Tukiko and Sasuke release their older brother. The door opened yet again to reveal their mother. She smiled at the three siblings.

"Good morning, Itachi, Sasuke and Tukiko," she greeted. "Sasuke, Tukiko, you two need to eat now so that we can get you ready for your party today."

Sasuke cheered happily at the sound of their party later that day but Tukiko frowned for a bit before cheering just like her brother. Itachi was the only one to catch this though as it went unnoticed by their mother. Then the two children went to the kitchen where they recieved their favorite breakfast: blueberry pancakes with tomatoes on the side (A/N: yeah, I know. Weird). The two happily ate their breakfast and were finished in a flash. When they were finished, Mikoto told Itachi to change Sasuke into a yukata for the party while she changed Tukiko.

Mikoto took Tukiko into a seperate room to change. Tukiko was not happy that she had to change into a kimono for the party but let her mother put it on her. After an hour of putting the kimono on with the different layers to put on, they were finally finished in time for the party. Tukiko was now wearing a pink kimono with red elegant swirls imaged on the ends of her kimono and it was tied into a light blue obi. Tukiko was upset that she also had to wear a navy blue choker with the Uchiha clan symbol in rubies and diamonds as the charm with the outfit. She didn't really complain about it since she and Sasuke recieved these trinkets from their parents when they were born. Actually, she loved the necklace. But she just was upset with wearing it to formal parties and what not. She wore the necklace around her neck everyday as the same with Sasuke who wore it around his wrist and did not like showing that she was a part of the clan at formal parties.

When Tukiko was done, Mikoto and she met Sasuke and Itachi outside of their home. Sasuke was wearing a dark blue yukata with red swirls at the bottom of it just like Tukiko's but the obi was a black color. Itachi wore a red yukata with black feathers in the background with a blue obi. Tukiko scowled at the fact that she was the only one wearing pink.

The four then walked to the clan meeting house where the party was being held. Many of their relatives were going to the party and they wished the twins a happy birthday as they passed by. They arrived at the meeting house where the festivites had already begun. The party was at the meeting house but in the big backyard with the ponds and many sakura trees were located. There were many amount of food there waiting by the house as the guests and relatives talked amongst themselves. Most of them were adults though. As it turns out, Sasuke, Tukiko, Itachi and their cousin Shisui were the only children at the estate. Their cousin had already come to wish the two a happy birthday before he left to whereever with Itachi following him.

Before the two could go run off and play, they had to meet their father. Mikoto led the children to where their father was near the house, speaking with some of the clan elders. When they appoarched, the adults only stared at the children.

"Hello, Father," Sasuke and Tukiko chimed together as they bowed to their father.

"Sasuke, Tukiko," Fugaku responded with a nod. "Today is the day that you two turn six years old."

"Yes Father."

"My, these two are very polite," one of their relatives complimented to them. Tukiko figured she was their aunt or something. She wasn't sure. Their aunt smiled at them, especially at Tukiko. "So Tukiko. Today is the day that you become closer to being a respectful lady."

"Yes ma'am," Tukiko said.

The woman turned to Fugaku. "So is she to learn of _it_ today?"

Fugaku turned his emotionless stare at Tukiko. She jumped when he stared at her. She was never quite used to cold stares yet even though her family was known for it.

"Yes. I expect that the boy will arrive later on today."

The woman nodded. "I suppose that she will be quite the lady when she was older."

Fugaku nodded.

Tukiko was surprised and confused at the exchange but said nothing.

As the adults talked to each other, Mikoto finally let the children go but warned Tukiko to not get her kimono dirty. She said that there would be a surprise for her later and she was not to be dirty. She also said that the surprise would happen soon so they were to stay nearby. The two then ran off to play.

Sasuke and Tukiko stopped at one of the ponds with koi fish swimming around. Tukiko kneeled to the pond to see the fish while Sasuke sat next to her.

"How come you get to have a surprise but I don't?" Sasuke asked sadly.

Tukiko carefully sat next to her brother and hugged her knees. "Well...Maybe it's because I'm the only daughter in the family. At least, that's what Aniki says."

"Just because of that, you get surprises?"

Tukiko shrugged. "Dunno. But I'll share the surprise with you, whatever it is! Okay, Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke smiled and nodded. The two shared almost everything so it was to be expected.

"Okay! I hope it's something good though."

"Yeah! I hope it's something like gold or jewals. Or maybe even better!"

"Maybe."

The two spent the rest of their time, imagining what the surprise could be. Sasuke suggested that it could probably be a really big dog that they could have. Tukiko thought it could be a baby dragon so that they could train it to guard their family. There were endless possiblities.

"Tukiko! It's time for your surprise!" they soon heard their mother call.

Tukiko stood to her feet and helped her twin up. Then they walked back to where the house was to find that all of their relatives were standing there. Tukiko and Sasuke ran to Itachi who stood next to their Father. They were wondering what was going on and turned to what they were looking at. The twins saw that there were a bunch of people in front of them. They all had dark hair and wore yukatas and kimonos. There was one thing that they noticed that was the same. They all had pale lavender eyes. Tukiko briefly wondered if they were blind.

One man nodded to Fugaku.

"Fugaku-sama."

Fugaku nodded in response.

"Hiashi Hyuuga-sama."

He bowed to the man with pale eyes.

"We are honered to have one of the other noble clans here for my children's birthday."

"As are we, Uchiha-sama," responded Hiashi with a bow. He straightened up. "So today we have come just like it was ordered those six years ago. It is time for the children to meet, I suppose?"

"Yes. It is."

The two men began to converse with each other but Tukiko and Sasuke didn't care. They were actually focusing on the two other children with the Hyuugas. Just beside Hiashi stood two kids around their age. One was a boy with long brown hair that was tied and he wore a simple dark yukata. The other was a girl with a light blue yukata on with a pink obi. Both children had lavender eyes like the rest of them. Tukiko and Sasuke were on both sides of Itachi, clutching the ends of his yukata while staring at the two strange kids.

"Aniki, who are they?" Sasuke whispered up at their brother.

Itachi glanced at the two Hyuuga children before looking down at Sasuke. "The boy is Neji Hyuuga while the girl is the heiress to the clan, Hinata Hyuuga. I believe they are about your age, Otouto."

"But why are they here, Aniki?" Tukiko whispered.

Itachi stared down at his younger sister, sadness evident in his eyes before he looked back up. Tukiko frowned when her question wasn't answered but realized it would soon.

"Tukiko," Fugaku called for his daughter.

"Yes, Father?" Tukiko asked. She let go of her brother and shakily walked over to her father.

"I would like you to meet someone."

Fugaku slightly pushed his daughter to the space in the center, in front of the Hyuugas. She stood there shakily, looking up at Hiashi. Hiashi simply motioned for the boy, Neji, to come to him and he obeyed. Neji walked over and Hiashi slightly pushed Neji in front of Tukiko. The two children stared at each other, both curious as to why they were standing there. They didn't talk for a while. They just stared. Finally, Tukiko made the first move.

"I'm Tukiko Uchiha," she said politely.

The boy stared at her before replying.

"I'm Neji Hyuuga."

Tukiko smiled a little.

"It's nice to meet you, Neji," she said a bit happily.

Neji seemed a bit surprised at that but he smiled a little as well.

"It is nice to meet you as well, Tukiko."

The two clan leaders were happy with the way this was going. Now they just had to tell them.

"Neji, Tukiko. Do you two know why you are meeting each other?" Fugaku asked.

Neji shook his head while Tukiko tilted her head.

"Isn't it so that we could be friends?" she asked.

Hiashi chuckled. "I suppose you could call it that. You see, you two are engaged."

Neji and Tukiko's eyes widened at the words. They were both old enough to know what 'engaged' meant.

"Does that mean we are to be married?" Neji asked his uncle.

He nodded. "Yes. You two are to be married the day that Tukiko turns sixteen."

"What?!" Tukiko exclaimed. "But I just met Neji today! I can't marry some guy I just met!"

Tukiko realized what she just said and blushed. She wasn't supposed to yell out like that. It was unladylike. She bowed in apology.

"Forgive me, Hyuuga-sama! I didn't mean to speak out like that."

"It is alright. I suppose it would be a shock for you to learn this today."

"Uncle, if I may ask but why are we to be married?" Neji asked politly.

"You see Neji. Our clans are the most honorable in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. We are the oldest clans that the village has as well as one of the most powerful. We both posses a kekke genkai; more specifically a dojutsu. While the Hyuugas possess the Byakugan, which allows the user to see the chkara in a person's body, the Uchihas possess the Sharingan, which can allow the user to copy any jutsu their opponent uses as well as detect fast movements. Our clans have been feuding for the last sixty years and we both belive for it to end. That was why we decided to marry two of our children to bring our two clans together. We are letting you, Neji Hyuuga, to marry the only daughter of the Uchiha clan's leader, Tukiko Uchiha. It was decided the day that Tukiko was born."

Tukiko said nothing but felt like she would start crying any second. She didn't want to cry in front of all these people but she couldn't since she was always told to keep her emotions in. So she stood there, still.

"Yes. My daughter will be the perfect bride for you by the time you are to marry," Fugaku said. "She will bear your children, be the perfect wife, and will always be by your side."

Neji examined Tukiko up and down and nodded. "Alright."

Hiashi nodded as well.

They then broke out into different conversations while the two fiaances got to know each other. But at the moment, Tukiko didn't feel like bonding with the guy she was supposed to marry. She just felt going curling up in her bed to make all of this go away. She knew it wouldn't though. All of this was real and not just some bad nightmare.

Tukiko stood there, her lip quivering in a way that she would soon start crying but stopped and jumped when a hand slid into her own. She turned to see it was her twin, Sasuke. He looked concerned as he held her hand.

"Tukiko-chan, are you okay?" He asked.

She was about to reply that she was but her voice gave out. She only whimpered as her lip quivered. Sasuke saw that his sister might start crying and he knew that it wasn't right for her to cry in front of the two clans. So he led her to a sakura tree away from the clans. He set her down at the base of the blossoming tree and he sat down next to her. Then Tukiko let out the tears.

"S-Sasuke-kun, I-I d-don't w-want t-to g-get m-m-married!" she cried. Tears flowed down her cheeks and stained her kimono. "I-I-I'm only s-six!"

Sasuke hugged his sister, comforting her. "It's okay, Tukiko. It'll be okay."

"N-No it won't! That's why Mother and Father won't let me become a ninja like Aniki is and like how you are going to be! It's because I have to be someone's wife and I don't want to be! I want to be a ninja and-and not some weak little wife that can break just like that!"

He sighed. "I know that you want to be a ninja just like Aniki but what can we do? Mother and Father made that arranged marriage when we were born so we can't do anything about it."

"B-But I don't want to get married to some boy I just met, Sasuke!" Tukiko cried. "It's not fair! Why do I have to be the one to get married?"

"It's the way it is, Imouto."

The twins looked up to see Itachi standing there. Itachi sat down next to Tukiko and pulled her into a hug.

"But Aniki, I don't want to be the perfect bride like Father was saying," Tukiko whimpered. "I want to be a ninja just like you so I can protect the village. I don't want to sit at home, waiting for someone to rescue me like in the fairytales. I don't want to be the princess."

"I know, Imouto. But the deal has been done. There is no turning back on our Mother and Father's words. You will just have to become the wife and bear with it."

Tukiko felt more tears slide down her face, this time in anger. She stood to her feet and wrenched out of her brother's embrace before running out of the backyard. She ignored what the clans would think; she didn't really care what they thought. All she wanted to do was to be alone. Tukiko ran out towards the training spot that Itachi would take them to when he was teaching Sasuke a new move. It was the only place she could think of where she could be alone. She ran into the forest and arrived at the training spot. Then she collasped onto the ground, dirtying her kimono in the process. She curled into a ball and started to cry.

She didn't want to become a wife just like that! She was only six! She didn't want to know the burden of knowing that she was going to marry someone that her parents chose for her all of her life. She wanted to marry someone and fall in love like the people in her stories. She wanted to be loved by someone who she could give her love to in return. An arrranged marriage didn't count in true love because the two people don't even love each other. Why did she have to be the only daughter of the Uchiha leader? It just wasn't fair. It wasn't even fair that she couldn't fulfill her dream of being a ninja now because of how they were forcing her to be the perfect bride. Now she knew why her clan wanted her to be the perfect noble lady.

Tukiko continued to cry until the sun started to set. She finally stopped and started to think things out. She knew that she didn't want to get married but what could she do? The stupid wedding contract had been made when she was born and there was no way that the clan could back out of it now. It was already too late. But there had to be some way that Tukiko could escape the contract, become a kunoichi, and not get married. But how?

Then it suddenly hit her. She sat straight up, a grin moving to her lips. She had the perfect idea now.

Tukiko got to her feet and ran back to her house. She figured that everyone was still at the party since it usually lasted until dark. Her assumption was correct when seeing the estate practically empty. She stealthily snuck back into her home and went straight to Itachi's room. There she grabbed a backpack that she could carry and started to grab all sorts of weapons and scrolls. She filled the bag halfway with this stuff and ran back to her and Sasuke's room. In there, she ripped off her kimono and went into their closet. She grabbed a high collared shirt that Sasuke always wore as well as shorts. She quickly changed into them and snuck into the kitchen. She started to put all sorts of non perishable items in the bag like bread until it was full.

Tukiko's plan was to actually run away from the village so that her parents couldn't force her into marriage. Sure, it was a bit drastic but it was the only way she could think of. Plus, if she was out of the village, she could train to be a ninja and learn all sorts of stuff. It was the perfect plan to her. The only drawback was that she was leaving her brothers. She and Sasuke have never been seperarted before so this was the first time they would be seperated from each ohter for a long time. And her Aniki.... she would miss them both but she had to do this.

Once Tukiko had all of her supplies, she put on Sasuke's shoes since hers weren't suitable for traveling. Then she ran out of the estate with no second thoughts and turned her back on her home. She ran all the way to the village gates which wasn't very far and hid in the shadows since it was alreayd dark. Before, she read a scheduale where the guards would take breaks and switch when she was looking around in her Aniki's room and accidentally remembered it. She was really thankful she never forgot it. She waited until the guards were switching out. There was a five minute interval where the gates were completely abandoned when the guards switched. She took this chance and ran as fast as she could out of the village. She didn't take a second glance back at her home, her village.

Tukiko then abandoned her old life to start her new one.

* * *

**So there's chapter 2! Don't have much to say except that the next chapter will be six years later. But if you want to know what happens, you have to...**

**Review!!!!!!  
**


	3. Coming home

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 3: Six years later

Just outside the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a cloaked person stood just outside the gates. It was hard to tell you the person was for they had the hood up, masking their face. The only thing you could tell about this person was that they were probably a teenager.

The cloaked person merely walked straight into the village. The guards were switching for guard duty so the person took this chance to enter the village without being interrogated for why they were there. The person walked through the streets, earning a couple of looks for wearing the cloak. The person ignored them though. They were about to walk towards town but stopped when hearing a few shouts nearby. Curious, the person went over to the next corner to see a group there.

The group was made up of kids. There were two twelve year old and three ten year old there. The two twelve year old kids were a girl with pink hair and a red chinese dress on and the other was a boy with blond hair and an orange jumpsuit on. They both had the hitai-ate of the village on their person. The three ten year olds looked like they were still in the Academy. The cloaked person turned to the other two people there as well. One was a girl with blond hair with her hair in four ponytails and she also had a large fan on her back. The other was a boy who had a black cat-like suit on with make up on his face. He had a type of mummy on his back. Both of these people had the hitai-ate of another village, the Village Hidden in the Sand. Currently, the boy from the Sand was holding a ten year old boy by the neck in the air.

"Hey! Let Konohamaru go, you fatass!" The blond haired Leaf genin shouted at the boy from the Sand.

The Sand boy merely smirked. "You're annoying. Basically, I hate midgets. Especially younger ones that are rude. Makes me want to kill them."

"You bastard!"

"Well, one less midget to worry about." The boy from Sand curled his left hand into a fist and swung at the boy he held.

He was stopped though by the cloaked person. The person had run from their postion from a far and now held the fist in their hand. Everyone was shocked when the person just came out of nowhere. The person took this chance to kick the boy from the Sand in the stomach while taking the boy named Konohamaru out of his other hand.

"You know, it's rude to start fights when you're from another village," the cloaked person said. The person spoke in a low tone that suggest it was a male speaking. He set down Konohamaru onto the ground then turned to the Sand ninjas.

The boy from the Sand recovered from his kick and stood up, glaring at the cloaked person.

"Just who the hell are you?"

"I should be asking that."

"And just who the hell are you bastards?"

The group turned to the tree nearby where a boy with raven hair and wore a dark blue high collared shirt with tan shorts sat. He was glaring at the Sand ninjas and especially at the cloaked person.

"Sasuke-kun!" The girl with pink hair squealed.

The Sand ninja boy sneered. "Great. Two more brats that piss me off..."

"Get lost," Sasuke ordered coldly.

"Kyaa! So cool! Get him, Sasuke-kun!" squealed the pink haired girl.

"Hey punk! Get down here so I can kick your butt along with this guys," the Sand ninja boy said, gesturing his head to the cloaked person. The person merely stared at Sasuke. Then the boy from Sand took off the mummy type item on his back.

"Stop! Don't use Karusu!" warned the girl with blond hair.

"Stop Kankuro."

The ever growing group moved their eyes to the back of the tree Sasuke sat in. There stood up side down was a boy with red hair and he had the Kanji symbol for love on his forehead. On his back was a gaint gourd. He was also from the Sand. The red haired boy stared coldly at Kankuro.

"You're an embarrassment to our village."

Kankuro froze and smiled nervously. "G-Gaara.."

The cloaked person briefly wondered how he was able to get there undetected then figured he was a really good ninja.

"Losing yourself in a fight; how pathetic. Why do you think we came to the Leaf Village?" asked Gaara.

"Listen Gaara, they started it and-"

"Shut up," ordered Gaara. "I'll kill you."

Kankuro and the girl froze. They must have been affected by the killer intent that Gaara had, wondered the cloaked person.

"Ok, I'm sorry," Kankuro quickly apologized.

"I'm also very sorry," the blond haired girl quickly said.

Gaara disappeared from the tree branch then reappeared right near the cloaked person.

"It looks like we got here too early."

"I know that," Kankuro said.

"Let's go."

"Hey wait!" The pink haired girl commanded. "Judging from your head protectors, you guys are ninjas from Suna right? You may be allies with our village but it is forbidden for ninjas to enter each other's villages without permission. State your business. Depending on it, we may not let you go."

"You kids are idiots," the cloaked person said. He turned to the genin from the Leaf. "Don't you guys know that these people are obviously here for the Chunin selection Exams?"

"Chunin Selection Exams?" The blond haired boy asked stupidly.

The girl with blond hair smirked. "He's right. We are here for the Chunin Exams."

Then she went ahead to explain what the exams were. Mainly that genins from different villages would come together to take the exam to prove that they could become a chunin. It's main reason was to establish relationships with other villages and promote allies.

"Oooh...Should I take the exam?" the blond haired boy wondered.

You couldn't see it but the cloaked person rolled his eyes.

Sasuke appeared right near the cloaked person, glaring at both him and Gaara.

"What's your name?"

"Who, me?" the blond haired girl asked.

"No. The boy with the gourd and the boy with the cloak."

Gaara stared at Sasuke coldly while the cloaked boy stared at Sasuke normally.

"Gaara of the desert," Gaara announced.

"What about you?" Sasuke coldly asked the cloaked boy.

"Tch. I"m not obligated to tell my name....yet."

"I'm also intrested in your name," Gaara said to Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke and Gaara stared at each other for a while.

"Hey! Don't you want to know my name!?" the blond haired boy asked.

"Not intrested. Let's go."

The three Sand ninja then disappeared.

When they were gone, Sasuke glared coldly back at the cloaked person who just stood there.

"Who are you?"

The cloaked person chuckled. "You don't recognize me? That really hurts."

"You better tell us your name or Sasuke-kun will kick your ass!" The girl with pink hair ordered.

What the boy did next shocked everyone. He giggled. And it wasn't a guy giggle, it was a girl giggle.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" He giggled. "Looks like you got yourself a fan club. And it looks like I"m going to be the only person in this whole village who will never call you that, ne Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke's cold glare dropped as he stared at the boy. He just looked shocked while the rest of the kids just seemed confused.

"Oh! Now you're starting to remember me, Sasu-chan! Then to give you a better clue..." The boy removed his hood and shocked almost everyone there.

He looked exactly like Sasuke. He had the same features, the same hair, the same eyes, even the same hair! The only thing that could separate Sasuke from the boy was that the boy was smirking.

"What the hell!?" The blond haired boy exclaimed. "There are _two_ Sasukes!?"

If Sasuke didn't look shocked before, he was now. His jaw was slack as his eyes were glued to the boy.

The boy kept up his smirk. "Remember me, now, Sasuke?"

"T-Tukiko...?"

The boy's smirk grew bigger. "Now you remember me."

"Wait..." the pink haired girl looked at Sasuke and the boy back and forth, confused. "Sasuke-kun, you know this guy?"

Sasuke snapped out of his daze and glared fully at the boy.

"Prove it that you're Tukiko. If you're wrong, _I'll kill you_."

Everyone there except for the boy shivered. They never heard Sasuke this coldly before and it seemed like he would really kill the boy if he didn't prove it that he was this Tukiko person.

The boy sighed. "Figures. Fine. When we turned six, I got you a windmill shuriken with you name engraved on the handle while you gave me this." The boy held up his left wrist where a silver chain bracelet with a charm shined in the sun. On the charm was a tropical flower with two lines on both sides of it leading a cresent moon above it. On the back there was also a name. The boy's eyes softened just a bit as he lowered his wrist. "Believe me now, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's expression changed from cold to recognition. His eyes stared into the boy's and there was an emotion behind the coldness. The rest of the kids couldn't figure out what it was but the boy knew it was happiness. Slowly but surely, Sasuke's lips twitched upward and smiled. Then he did something very out of character for him. He practically tackle hugged the boy and they both tumbled to the ground. All of the kids there were shocked and couldn't even say anything at the scene before them.

"Kiko, I can't believe it! You're-You're alive!" Sasuke exclaimed happily as he hugged the boy.

The boy laughed before scowling. "Hey! How many times have I told you not to call me that!"

Sasuke scowled as well and play fully glared at the boy. "And how many times have I told you to not call me Sasu-chan?"

"...Touche."

Sasuke smiled yet again before he frowned and glared at the boy. "And where the _hell _have you been for the past six years!? Do you know how much I thought that you were _actually_ dead!? I was worried that you were_ kidnapped_ or something! No note or anything!"

The boy laughed nervously. "Um....I ran away?"

Sasuke growled as he stood to his feet, glaring at the boy at his feet. "You. Ran. _Away_? And on our _Birthday!_?"

The boy laughed but stopped when Sasuke raised his fist to punch him. The boy put his hands up in the universal sign that they were no harm. "Whoa, wait Sasuke! I can explain!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for leaving me alone for all those years," Sasuke growled menacingly.

"You know about that little thing that they announced on our birthday? Well, I didn't want to do it and you know how I get when I refused to do something. So I thought that if I ran away, I wouldn't have to do it and fulfill my dream of being a kunoichi. So I gathered supplies and I ran away. And now I'm back!" The boy put his hands in front of his face, fearing that he was going to be hit. He didn't feel anything and cracked one eye open to see Sasuke staring sadly at her. "Y-You're not mad?"

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "Tukiko, you baka. Why didn't you even tell me that you were leaving?"

Tukiko stood to his feet, staring guiltily at the ground. "Sorry but I knew that you would just talk me out of it. You didn't really give me good advice when we found out anyways."

"What the hell are you two talking about!?" The blond haired boy exclaimed. The two look a likes jumped. They forgot that there were other people there with them. The blond boy pointed a finger at Tukiko. "And just who the hell are you and why do you look like the teme!?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes while Tukiko giggled. "Sasuke, don't tell me that this guy and that pink haired girl are your genin teammates."

"Unfortunately."

"Shut the hell up, teme! Just answer the question!"

Tukiko sighed. "God. You don't need to yell. We're right here you know." He shook his head. "Anyways, my name is Tukiko Uchiha. I'm Sasuke's twin sister."

The kids were silent. They were just staring at Sasuke and Tukiko confused.

"Wait...You're a _girl!?_" The pink haired girl exclaimed.

Tukiko glared at her. "Yes. Don't I look like a girl to you? You answer that question Blondie and I'll kill you," she added as the blond boy opened his mouth to say no.

"So you're Sasuke-kun's _twin_ sister?" The girl asked.

Sasuke and Tukiko nodded.

"Then why haven't we heard about you before?"

Tukiko turned to her twin, her face expressionless and making her look like him. "Why _haven't_ they heard of me, Sasu-chan?"

"Hn." He grunted with a shrug.

Tukiko scowled. "Ew. You're starting to act like Father. By the way, how are Mother and Father? I hope they weren't mad when I left."

Sasuke froze and looked away. Tukiko caught her brother's tension.

"What? Are they okay?"

Sasuke said nothing.

"Tukiko-chan, don't you know?" Sakura asked. "You and Sasuke-kun are the last of the Uchihas."

Tukiko tilted her head in confusion and stared at her brother. "Wait....What do you mean that we're the last of the Uchihas? Where's Aniki? Isn't he here? And now that you mention it, I haven't seen any of the clothing that our clan always has on their back except for Sasuke here. Where are they?"

Everyone was silent. They didn't answer any of Tukiko's questions and the tension rose in the air to the point where it could be cut with a knife. Tukiko looked at her brother desperately.

"Sasuke, answer me! Where's Mother and Father? Where's Aniki!?"

"Our clan is dead."

Tukiko stared at her brother. She then laughed out loud. "Very funny, Sasuke. Okay, joke's over. Where are they?"

Sasuke turned to face her, his face devoid of expressions but his eyes held sadness and anger.

"I'm not joking. They're _dead._"

Tukiko's eyes widened. She took a step back, shaking her head. "Sasuke, this isn't funny anymore. Tell me the truth:Where are Mother and Father? Where's Aniki?"

Tukiko didn't know what happened next but she found herself on the floor. She looked up to see that Sasuke had punched her. She touched her cheek which stung upon touch. Sasuke's eyes were blazing red with the Sharingan.

"Do you honestly think I would lie that our family is dead? Accept the truth, sister. We're the last of our clan and it's all because of _him!_"

Tukiko gritted her teeth and stood to her feet. "You're lying! Mother and Father _can't_ be dead! Father was the leader of the clan and he was really strong! He can't die just like that! So stop lying to me, Sasuke!"

"I'm not lying!"

Tukiko shook her head and ran away from the group. She didn't want to believe that her family was dead. They were one of the strongest in all of Konoha and they wouldn't die just like that. There was no possible way. She ran towards the edge of town where the Uchiha estate was located. She was going to see her family for herself.

* * *

**REVIEW!!!!!**


	4. Letters

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 4

When Tukiko arrived at the clan estate entrance, there was not a soul in sight. Tukiko ran inside, hoping to see any sign of their family members but there was no one. Tukiko's heart began to speed up as well as the feeling of dread.

"Hello!? I'm home!" she called through the empty streets. There was still no one and she couldn't even sense anyone's chakra. Tears started to blind her eyes as she dashed towards her home. When she got there, there was no one. She entered the house quietly and yelled "Mother! Father! I'm home! It's Tukiko!"

No one answered her. Tukiko took off her shoes and walked through the house. She poked her head through each of the rooms to find them empty. Each room she went through only brought tears to her eyes. She finally came across her and Sasuke's room. She quietly stepped inside to see that nothing had changed except for the multiple weapons and scrolls scattered around the room. Tears fell as she walked into the closet. She slid it open to see some of her and Sasuke's old clothes but there was one thing at the bottom of the closet that surprised her. There on the floor was the kimono she wore on her birthday on the day she ran away.

Tukiko kneeled down to the floor and picked up the kimono. It was still dirty from where she had collapsed on the ground crying and it was also dusty. She rubbed the soft silk between her fingers. She remembered when she had to put it on for the party and she hated it. But now... She sighed and rubbed her hands against the soft fabric. When doing that, she came across a white edge that felt sharp. Confused, Tukiko held up the kimono to find that there were a pile of letters on the ground. Putting the kimono on the side, she gingerly picked up a letter and opened it to find Sasuke's handwriting. Her eyes widened before she read the letter.

_Dear Tukiko,_

_How are you? I hope that you are doing well. Me? Well, I'm actually not doing well like you might be. You see, today is the day that I finally entered the Academy. I know that both of us wished to enter together and I wished it would happen. Father agreed to come and he did but I felt like he didn't really want to be there. Yesterday, Father said that he would join Aniki on his mission since it was really important. But then Aniki said that he wouldn't go on the mission so that he could go the opening ceremony. You remember that family members of the Academy student are supposed to be there right? Well, Father forgot but when Aniki said that he would go instead, Father insisted that Aniki would go on his mission while he would go. I was so happy at first but then Father told me to become a fine ninja just like Aniki. I know I'm supposed to be happy that he finally acknowledged me but for some reason I wasn't._

_Tukiko, ever since you left. I started feeling more and more depressed. After you left, Mother and Father tried to find you but after only three months, they and the rest of our family forgot about you. Aniki and I were probably the only ones who remembered you and wished that you would come home. Mother and Father don't even mention you around the house anymore. Aniki says that they do miss you but we both knew that was a lie. Father never acknowledged you at all and Mother only wanted you to get married. I still can't believe that you were supposed to get married when we turned sixteen. Aniki says that getting married at that age wasn't right but Father doesn't care. We really miss you, Tukiko. Aniki also said that if we wrote letters to you then we could try to convince you to come home but we can't really do that since we don't know where you are right now. So he said that if we wrote letters to you but didn't send them, it would still be like you were here. That's mainly why I'm writing this._

_Oh! I have to go now! I wish that you could see how me and Aniki are doing badly without you. We really do miss you._

_Love, your twin brother,_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

Tukiko read the letter and felt instantly bad. She had no idea that she was causing so much pain to her brothers. She thought that they would get over it but turns out,they didn't. But she couldn't believe that her parents just gave up on her like that only after a few months. She thought that they would miss her.

_Guess not_, she thought sadly.

She sighed and put down the letter only to pick up another one.

_Dear Tukiko,_

_Life is starting to get so strange without you here. You know how Father and Aniki used to be so close? Well, lately....They're starting to become so distant. Father is actually teaching me stuff now and won't even mention things about Aniki. I think that's because for some reason, Aniki is starting to act so strange. He says he doesn't have enough time for anything for me anymore ever since he entered ANBU. He won't even tell me things anymore! I wish that you were here. You always had an easier time getting things out of Aniki like that time I asked about why he became a ninja faster than me and he didn't tell me so I asked you to ask him for me. When you asked, he actually told you that he was considered the prodigy and future of the clan. I still wonder why he tells you things and yet not me._

_Anyways, I should probably tell you that cousin Shisui committed suicide a few days ago. I don't know why he did that but he did. The Konoha police force did an investigation on the suicide and found Shisui's suicide note. They showed the note to Aniki since he was like a brother to cousin and Aniki seemed sad. But then the police force accused Aniki of something and then Aniki got mad. He beat up the police force easily and started talking so strange. I was actually scared that time. We had never seen Aniki act that way before and it scared me. Then you know what Aniki did? He took out a kunai and threw it at our clan symbol that was on the wall! Then he said,_

_"I've lost all hope for this pathetic clan. You forget what is important to you because you cling to something small like your clan. True change cannot be made if it is bound laws and limitations, prediction and imagination."_

_Then Father and the police force got all mad. They even threatened to send him to jail! I didn't know what happened but I shouted for Aniki to stop. He did and kneeled on the ground for our Father to forgive him. Father did but when he went into the house, I was so scared when Aniki glared at Father with his Sharingan activated. Then something weird happened to Aniki's sharingan. It changed into this thing were it looked like a shuriken. I don't think it was normal for a Sharingan to look like that. I'm still confused on why it looks like that and I want to ask Aniki but I can't. He ignores me and acts so cold to me. Like earlier, he passed by me and Father but said nothing to either of us! It gets weirder because Father actually cares about my studies. He asked me how I was doing at the Academy and I told him it was going great since I'm always the best in my class. I was so happy that Father was actually acknowledging me and all. But then I started to get sad when I knew how hard you tried to earn Father's attention but never did. I think because of how Aniki is acting so strange, Father is paying attention to me more. Maybe that's it._

_Oh! And guess what, Kiko-chan? Father actually taught me how to use the Katon: Goukakyuu no Justsu! I didn't get it at first but later on I did! And Father and the clan acknowledge me as an adult in the clan because it was a rite of passage! I wish that you could've seen it, Kiko-chan. I was so happy. Father said that he expected that I was his child and am now fit to wear our clan symbol! I was really happy! But then Father said something so unexpected that I started to feel sad. He said that I shouldn't follow in Aniki's footsteps. Then he said that I shouldn't become like you and run away from our clan. I felt sad about not becoming like Aniki then I felt mad that he said that about you. You're my sister! We've been together since birth and I know he's our Father and all but he had no right to say that. I didn't say that out loud though for I thought he would get mad at me. But Kiko-chan, I know that you must have run away because you couldn't follow our parent's plan for your future. If I were you then I would act the exact same way. But Tukiko....I really miss you._

_So many things are happening in our clan and I'm so confused. If you were here, you would be saying "Sasu-chan! We have to find out why Aniki is like that and we'll force the truth out of him!" You always were the bravest of us two. I couldn't do that without your help. I wish you could be here so I wouldn't feel so alone._

_Love, your twin,_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

Tukiko reread the letter. She was confused by what Sasuke was describing. How was her Aniki acting so strange when he entered ANBU? Sure, he did that stuff but why was acting that way? None of the stuff that Sasuke described was making sense. There had to be a reason why Itachi was acting that way and she wished she could find out. But it was too late now.

Tukiko dropped that letter and moved onto the final one that lay on the floor. She began to read it but noticed that there were spots on the letter. They smudged some of the letters but it was still readable. She wondered if Sasuke was crying when he wrote this. But why? She read the reason why he started to cry.

_Dear Tukiko,_

_So many terrible things have happened lately. Remember how in my last letter, I was saying that Aniki was acting so strange? Well, I know the reason why now. He actually did it, Tukiko. That man _murdered_ our family. He killed everyone. He killed Mother and Father, our aunts, our uncles, _Everyone_. He was even the one to murder our cousin Shisui! And he was like a brother to him! The reason why Itachi did all of those things was so that he could test his skill with the Mangekyou Sharingan. Only a certain amount of people in our clan have ever reached that level of Sharingan and our former brother did it._

_Do you know how you get it? Father told me that there are special conditions to gaining it and now I know them. It's really horrible and he met these conditions to gain it. Do you know you're supposed to do to get it?_

_You need to kill your closest friend._

_That's why he killed Shisui. So that he could gain those eyes. Then with those eyes, he killed our whole family so that he could test his capacity. He only let me live because he wanted to test my capacity. That was why he was so nice to us! So that he could test us! That bastard told me that I wasn't even worth killing! He told me to hate him, curse him, and live my life. I was so scared that he was going to kill me. Then he told me that the day I gain the same eyes as him would I be able to kill him. Before I ended up fainting, Itachi said something to me. He said,_

_"Also, foolish little brother. If I ever find our dear little sister, I shall kill her as well. Then you will truly be alone."_

_Tukiko, where are you? I need to know where you are! I don't want you to die but I have a bad feeling that bastard already found you and killed you! If you were to die...I don't know what I'd do if he killed you just like our family. If he killed you in front of me, I would truly feel alone. I'm already feeling alone, Tukiko. No one can understand what I've been through except for you. But you're not even here so I don't know what to do anymore._

_Tukiko, if you are alive, I promise that I will find you and protect you from him. I will never let that man touch you or I will kill him. You're too important to me. _

_And one day when I gain enough power,_

I will kill that man.

_Your twin brother,_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

By the end of the letter, Tukiko was crying her eyes out. How could their Aniki kill their clan like that? Why did he do it? Why? Now she knew why Sasuke was so skeptical that she was actually Tukiko earlier. He thought that their Aniki had already found her and murdered her.

"Aniki...why?" she whispered. Tears blurred her vision but she felt so mad. "Why did you kill our clan? I know that I didn't exactly like Mother and Father but why did you have to kill them? You-You left Sasuke so alone for five years. How could you?"

"It was because he was a cold hearted murderer."

Tukiko whirled around to the doorway to see Sasuke. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. There were no emotions on his face. More tears came to Tukiko's eyes. She left her dear twin brother to go through all of this by himself. She started to feel so guilty. She stood to her feet and hugged him. She buried her face into his shirt as Sasuke hesitantly tried to soothe her.

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry that I left you to deal with all of this by yourself!" She cried, shaking her head. "I should have told you where I was going so that you wouldn't have been so worried about you! B-But I was so upset that I didn't want to tell you! I'm so sorry that you've been alone for five years while I was off having the time of my life traveling the nations! I feel so guilty!"

Sasuke sighed. "It's not your fault. You didn't know about any of this from where you were."

"But I should have stayed! I left you all alone while you had to deal with this! What kind of sister am I?" she sniffled.

Sasuke sat her down on the bed. Tukiko wiped away her tears, still guilty.

"Tukiko, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. And you're the best sister in the world so don't beat yourself down," Sasuke told her.

Tukiko frowned but nodded. Sasuke was right. She lay down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Sasuke..." she quietly said. "What are we going to do? About me, I mean."

Sasuke turned to his sister. "You're a kunoichi, aren't you?"

Tukiko laughed and rubbed her neck. "Um, sort of. I'm not officially a ninja since I never lived in one place long enough to become one but I know all of the basics and most of our clan techniques."

"Then why don't you become a genin of Konoha?" Sasuke asked.

She tilted her head, thinking. It was true she never did stay in one place at a time to become a ninja so now that she was back home, she could do what she started all those years ago.

"Okay! I'll do it!" Tukiko declared happily. But then she deflated and sighed. "Shoot. I have to tell the Hokage that I'm back. I bet he was freaking out when finding out one of the engaged people for that clan union thingy ran away, huh?"

Sasuke shook his head. "He was quite calm about it actually. But it's true we need to tell him you're back. Once everything's sorted out, we'll ask. We'll do that tomorrow."

Tukiko nodded before yawning. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle.

"Someone's tired."

Tukiko glared at him and punched his shoulder. "Shut up. You would be too if you traveled for ten miles to get here before dark."

He raised an eyebrow. "You traveled ten miles to get to Konoha?"

She nodded. "Yeah, now I just want to go to bed. That reminds me, Sasu-chan. Where am I going to sleep?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow further, giving her an Are-you-stupid? look. "You're sleeping with me."

Tukiko gasped and her hand flew to her mouth in mock shock. "Sasuke! Shame on you! I thought our parents taught you better than to be into _incest_!"

He glared at her and punched her shoulder. "Idiot. I wouldn't do that. I meant that we should sleep in the same bed like when we were little!"

She winced and rubbed her shoulder. "Jeez, Sasu-chan. I was just kidding. I wouldn't mind sleeping next to you, just like old times."

Sasuke smiled. "Yeah..."

So Tukiko took off her cloak and backpack to show that she was wearing a too big shirt and sweatpants. Sasuke gave her a weird look but said nothing. Seeing as how it was already late, the two climbed into bed and they both lay next to each other, side-by-side. Tukiko yawned and closed her eyes while breathing

"Night, Sasu-chan."

Sasuke smiled and closed his eyes as well.

"Night Kiko-chan. Glad to have you home."

Tukiko smiled.

"Glad to be back."

The two fell asleep, happy that they were next to their twin after so long.


	5. Meeting the team

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 5

The next morning, Tukiko was the first one to wake up but Sasuke shortly followed. They both lay there, blinking away the sleepiness. After a few minutes, Tukiko turned to Sasuke, smiling.

"Morning, Sasu-chan!"

Sasuke groaned and hid his face in a pillow. Tukiko frowned.

"What? I get no good morning greeting anymore? Jeez, you have changed."

"Hn."

Tukiko glared at Sasuke before pushing him off the bed. She smirked when he groaned but it faded when Sasuke kneeled by the bed, glaring at her. She only smiled innocently.

"What? I didn't do it."

"Sure you didn't."

Tukiko rolled her eyes before getting out of bed. Then she headed towards the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for them but Sasuke stopped her.

"Wait. We don't have time for breakfast. Just grab some tomatoes," he said.

Tukiko raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"I have to meet my sensei and after that, we're going to the Hokage tower."

She shrugged before stopping again.

"Wait, Sasuke. What am I going to wear? My clothes are old and ruined."

Tukiko was caught by surprise when clothes flew out the door way at her. She caught them and examined them. They were the same clothes that he was currently wearing.

"I have to wear _your_ clothes?"

"It's either that or you go naked," he called.

"Your clothes it is."

Tukiko headed into the bathroom to change out of her ratty old clothes. A few minutes later, she came out looking exactly like her twin. She really did look like her twin except she didn't have the hitai-ate of the village on her forehead or the arm warmers. Tukiko went to the front door, put on her sandal shoes and walked out the door. Sasuke was waiting outside for her, eating a raw tomato and held another tomato in his hand for her. He handed the tomato to her, which she accepted. Then the two set off to the meeting place of Team 7.

Tukiko was looking at everything as they walked to the red bridge. She hasn't seen the village in over six _years_ and everything looked different! Everything was bigger and better since she was last there. Sasuke had to stop her from entering the Ichiraku ramen shop so that they wouldn't see a certain blond teammate. After a while, Sasuke started to get annoyed by his sister's actions but didn't complain. After all, everything was practically different for her now.

They reached the meeting place where no one was there yet. Sasuke put his elbows on the railing and leaned against it while Tukiko sat on the railing, leaning against the post and one leg propped up on the railing. She looked like Sasuke when she did that.

"Hey, Sasuke. You didn't really tell me who your sensei was," Tukiko mentioned after a while. "So who is he?"

Sasuke sighed. "He's this jonin who is always late and reads perverted novels. One book is orange and has a man chasing a woman on the cover."

Tukiko gasped. "Please don't tell me you're talking about Icha Icha Paradise."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I hear a lot of things about that novel when I was traveling so don't ask," she said, knowing what her twin was going to ask.

After that, the two of them sat in a comfortable silence. Tukiko was staring at the sky, day dreaming about the lady lessons she took so long ago. She wondered if they would actually help her in life but she guessed not. Although, the acting like a noble _did_ help her once when she accidentally spilled a drink on a rich woman. She was able to smooth talk her way out, unscathed. But that was one experience she promised herself that she would never do ever again.

"Sasuke-kun!"

The two Uchihas' silence was shattered by a squeal. Tukiko turned her body slightly to see that pink haired girl from yesterday running at Sasuke. She was smiling but when approaching the bridge, her expression changed to a confused one. Her green eyes looked back and forth at Sasuke and Tukiko.

"Um, which one of you is Sasuke-kun?"

Tukiko merely pointed to Sasuke who was standing. Sasuke glared at her before turning his gaze away. The girl smiled widely and stood close to Sasuke. Tukiko could feel her eye twitching. She hated girls like her that only cared about boys and clothes. That was how she would have turned out to be if she stayed in the village instead of running away.

"Oh, right!" The girl suddenly said. She turned to Tukiko, still smiling that same smile. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you, Tukiko!"

Tukiko flashed a kind smile, the kind that she was forced to practice so that she could appear like a noble.

"And it is nice to meet you too, Sakura Haruno."

Sakura nodded. "I hope we can be good friends."

"Yeah."

"Sakura-chan, good morning!"

The blond boy from yesterday hyperly ran towards the bridge and stood next to Sakura. He smiled at Sakura but scowled and glared at Sasuke.

"Teme."

Sasuke glared back.

"Dobe."

Sakura sighed at the small exchange that the two boys just did.

"They act like this all the time so don't worry about that," she explained to Tukiko who raised an amused eyebrow at the two. "And by the way, the blond idiot is Naruto Uzumaki. He's a real idiot and is way too hyper."

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Who are you talking to?" Naruto asked Sakura, only hearing the first part.

"I'm talking to Tukiko-chan, idiot!"

Naruto seemed confused for a second before he realized that Tukiko was there. She waved a hand, smiling. His eyes widened when she smiled.

"Oh my god!" he cried. "This is the first time I've _ever_ seen an Uchiha _smile!!!_"

Tukiko rolled her eyes and laughed. "What? Is it illegal to for an Uchiha to smile?"

"No! It's just that your teme of a brother is always cold and scowls all the time!"

"Oh really?" Tukiko grinned at her brother, who was feeling quite scared at the way she grinned at him. It was her evil grin, whenever she was about to do something that he would regret later. "Well then. I shall make it my mission to make my dear twin brother smile out in public!"

"Don't even think about, Tukiko," warned Sasuke.

Tukiko was still grinning but she shrugged. "Whatever." She leaned back into the pole behind her, staring at Sasuke.

Naruto laughed. "Wow, Tukiko-chan! You're not like your brother at all!"

Tukiko and Sasuke narrowed their eyes at him, making Naruto a bit scared.

"What's that supposed to mean?" they said together. Even after all these years, they still kept the habit of saying things at the same time.

"It means that Tukiko is fun while you're boring, teme!"

The twins sighed and shook their heads at the same time before turning their heads in separate directions. Naruto and Sakura simply stared at the two, thinking that they were alike in so many ways yet so different at the same time.

After that, the group waited for their sensei for two more hours. Naruto and Sakura were complaining about how their sensei shouldn't make them wait. Sakura was saying that he shouldn't make a young girl who overslept and who didn't have time to dry her hair wait for him. Tukiko merely snorted mentally. Yup. Sakura was one of those really girly kunoichis who were more interested in boys and appearances than their training. God, she had to help Sakura.

"Morning people. I got lost on the road of life."

The group of kids turned their heads upward where the voice came from. Tukiko could see that a man with silver hair and a mask over his face was crouching on the bridge archway. He also had a familiar orange book in front of him. Sakura and Naruto glared at him.

"LIAR!!!" they accused of him.

The man jumped down and walked to the group. He cast the only seen eye at Tukiko when she walked to sit on the rail next to Sasuke's elbows. Tukiko could tell that he was probably amused.

"Well anyways. Before I explain something, mind telling me who this young man is and why he looks like Sasuke?" The man asked.

Tukiko's eye twitched while Sasuke glared at him. Tukiko jumped down to her feet and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Okay, one, I'm a _girl_ and two, I'm Sasuke's twin sister. Who are you?"

The man chuckled. "So I'm guessing that you're Tukiko Uchiha? You really do act like Sasuke and yet you're different at the same time. Interesting.... Anyway, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's jonin sensei."

Tukiko's eyes widened a bit before she smirked. "No way. _You're_ the Konoha jonin that is known as the Copy Cat Ninja Kakashi and Sharingan Kakashi?"

"Hey! How did you know that?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I heard a lot of stuff while I was traveling across the Nations," she explained. "I've heard a ton of rumours about you, Kakashi. Some of them sound really impressive."

Kakashi chuckled. "And I've heard one rumour about you as well, Tukiko. One about a little boy with the Uchiha symbol on their back taking out a bunch of chunin ninjas with just a kunai. I didn't know that it was actually a girl who did that though."

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Sakura and Naruto shouted. Sasuke was staring at his sister, shocked.

Tukiko blushed and rubbed her head. "Um...yeah. That was actually an accident. They were about to rob me so I did the only sensible thing at the time and take them out with the only kunai I had with me. I was really scared when that happened too."

"When was this?" Sasuke asked.

"Um...about when I was nine?"

"No way! Does that mean you're better than _Sasuke?!"_ Naruto asked loudly.

Tukiko's eyes widened. "No! Sasuke might be much better than me! He had actual schooling while I learned the hard way!"

"But they do say that first hand experience is always the best," Kakashi mentioned.

"I'm not better than Sasuke, end of discussion!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Okay, okay. But this conversation isn't really over yet. Anyways, I should probably give this to you now." He threw an object at Tukiko and she caught it. When she looked down curiously to see what it was, her eyes widened when seeing the village hitai-ate in her hands. "Congratulations, you are now apart of Team 7."

Tukiko looked up, bewildered. "B-But h-how-"

"I don't know how but Hokage-sama had seen you somehow and immediately made you a genin. Oh! And he says that he is alright with your 'situation'."

"What situation?" Naruto and Sakura asked.

Tukiko fidgeted and Sasuke stared at his sister sadly.

"I'd rather not talk about," Tukiko admitted. "But how did Hokage-sama know that I wanted to be a genin? I just decided that last night!"

Kakashi shrugged. "That man has ways of knowing...." He shook his head and put away his book. "So let's move on to why we're really here, shall we? So I know this is really random and all but I've nominated you four to enter the Chunin Exams. I know that Tukiko is new but I would prefer if she was nominated along with her new team."

"What did you say!?" Sakura exclaimed.

"You think that makes up for-" Naruto began.

"Here are your applications."

He held out four applications and they all took one.

"Kakashi-sensei, I love you!" Naruto exclaimed as he hugged Kakashi around the neck.

Tukiko smiled as Kakashi pried Naruto off of him. This team was really something.

"Now this is just a nomination. Whether you take the exam is up to the each of you," Kakashi said after he had pried Naruto off of him. "Those who wish to take it should sign those papers and turn them in at Room 301 by four p.m. tomorrow. That is all."

And with that, Kakashi disappeared.

Tukiko stared down at her application. She had heard about the Chunin Exams everywhere while traveling but never dreamed of entering it. And this was really sudden after she was infromed that she was made a genin. This was so hard to take in.

Tukiko saw that her new team was starting to leave. She quickly put the application in her pocket before following them. She also quickly tied her hitai-ate around her forehead like Sasuke so that they still looked alike. She caught up with them and stood in between Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto was currently saying how awesome this exam was going to be and day dreaming. Sasuke was doing the same thing but not actually voicing it. Tukiko wasn't really thinking about the exam. She was looking at Sakura and saw how depressed she looked when Kakashi told them that they were nominated to enter the exam. Tukiko was wondering what was wrong with her. Then she suddenly noticed that Sakura wasn't beside her. She looked back to see Sakura standing there in one place, looking down at the application. Tukiko was suddenly worried about and walked back to her.

"Hey Sakura. You okay?" she asked.

Sakura snapped out of her daze and looked back up at Tukiko. She smiled but Tukiko could tell it was strained.

"Oh, I'm fine, Tukiko-chan. It's nothing."

Tukiko frowned.

"Sakura, is this about taking the exam?"

Sakura seemed surprised but she hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah...I'm really nervous about this," she admitted. "Just before you came yesterday, Sasuke-kun was saying that I was below Naruto and not participating in any of the missions. I don't know if I'm ready for this yet."

Tukiko sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Sakura, don't listen to my brother, no matter what he says. I know he says hurtful things but he's just being honest."

She winced at that part.

"Sakura, I know you're strong and I'm sorry that I'm about to say this but..." Tukiko sighed again and took a deep breath. "You need to get your head out of the clouds and keep it down to Earth. The world doesn't revolve around boys and clothes. It doesn't even revolve around Sasuke, no matter how much he believes it does. You need to start focusing less on Sasuke and more on your training. I think that's the reason why Sasuke might think you're annoying or weak."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked hurt. She looked like she couldn't really say anything to what Tukiko was saying.

Tukiko cringed. She hated hurting people's feelings.

"I'm sorry but it's true. But I do have some advice for you though."

"L-Like what?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe taking this exam will help you in growing."

Sakura tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Tukiko smiled before turning her back. "You'll see..."

Then she left Sakura standing there. Tukiko walked off the bridge to see Sasuke leaning against a pole, arms crossed. He noticed Tukiko and walked over to her.

"Where were you?" he asked.

Tukiko smiled. "Just somewhere. So wanna head home? At least we don't have to waste the trip of going to the Hokage and explaining why I ran away. And at least I'm a genin and on your team, right?"

Sasuke smiled but then sighed. "Looks like this team just got crazier...."

Tukiko scowled and punched her brother. "Shut the hell up. What is that even supposed to mean?"

"You're crazy."

She scoffed and folded her arms. "Says the boy who wrote that I was the bravest of us two."

Sasuke glared at her. "That was when I was seven. I'm different now."

"Yeah, sure, Sasu-chan," she laughed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Kiko-chan? You could at least call me Sasuke."

Tukiko put a finger on her chin, mock thinking. Then she shook her head. "Nah maybe not. I'd die the day I call you that. And besides," She kissed his cheek and ran away. "You have to catch me first if you want me to call you that!"

Sasuke smiled. Things were turning back to the way they were before she left. Then he ran after his sister, trying to catch her.


	6. Meetings and fights

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 6

The next day, Tukiko and Sasuke got up at the same time and got ready to head to the Academy. Today was the day that they would sign in for the Chunin Exams. Both twins decided that they would enter the exam. At first, Sasuke told Tukiko not to enter because it was too dangerous. But then Tukiko argued that she spent six years by herself, living on danger. If she could survive out there, she could survive this exam. After many arguments, Sasuke gave in.

Sasuke and Tukiko met up with Sakura near a food shop so that they could wait for Naruto. But after a while, Tukiko began to notice that Sakura wasn't her usual bubbly self. She was shaking and perspiring; the usual signs that she was really nervous. Tukiko glanced over at Sasuke who could see the same thing and noticed she was acting weird. Tukiko guessed that Sakura was still not sure if she should take the exam.

Finally Naruto had arrived. He greeted good morning to both Sakura and Tukiko and Sakura gave a half hearted good morning back. Then the four started to head to the Academy while on the way, Naruto was asking Sakura for help about the application. Once they got there, the four could see a lot of ninja there. All of them had different hitai-ates from many of the different villages. Tukiko looked sadly at the Academy and Naruto noticed.

"Hey, Tukiko-chan, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Huh?" She broke out of her gazing and blinked. She gave a soft smile. "It's nothing. I'm just...sad that I couldn't enter the Academy like you guys did."

"Why couldn't you enter?"

Tukiko froze at the question and sighed. She shook her head and stared at the ground. Sasuke stared at his sister sadly.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Naruto frowned but let go of the subject.

They entered through the Academy doors and walked to the second floor. When getting there, they noticed that there was a crowd. The four walked through the crowd just in time to see a boy get hit and fall to the ground. The boy was strange by what Tukiko though. He had a bowl hair cut and huge eyebrows. He also wore a tight green suit with orange arm and leg warmers and his hitai-ate was tied around his waist.

"You plan to take the exam with that?" One of the boys who hit the strange one spat. "You should quit now."

"You're just a little kid," another boy with spiky black hair and two giant kunais strapped to his back said.

A girl with brown hair tied up in two buns and wore a pink Chinese style shirt and ninja pants stepped forward.

"Please let us through."

The boy with the kunai slapped her on the cheek. She fell to the ground.

"Hey, we're just being nice. The chunin exam isn't exactly easy. Even we have failed it three times straight. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as shinobis, those that die during the exam, we've seen it all. We're just thinning out the losers. What's wrong with that?"

Sasuke walked over and smirked.

"That's nice and all but let me pass through. And while you're at it, drop the genjutsu that you placed at the door sign."

One of the boys smirked.

"So you noticed..."

"Sakura must have noticed it before I did," Sasuke said turning to Sakura. "After all, she is the best in Genjutsu know how and she's the most improved."

Sakura blinked in surprise before she smiled and nodded.

"Of course I noticed. We're obviously on the third floor."

The genjutsu on the door sign change from 301 to 201.

The boy with the kunai smirked.

"Not bad. But all you did was see through it!"

The boy kicked at Sasuke and he was about to retaliate. They were both stopped however when the boy with the bowl shaped hair caught both their legs. Tukiko was surprised. This guy was so different from the one that was getting beat up earlier.

_He must have been acting,_ she thought.

"Hey," said a boy with brown hair and lavender eyes said. "What happened to the plan? Weren't you the one to say that we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves?"

Tukiko didn't pay attention to what the boy with the bowl shaped hair said. Her heart practically stopped when seeing the boy with lavender eyes and she started to panic. She quickly hid behind Naruto and she had to cover her face. Naruto was surprised and confused when she did this.

"What are you doing?"

"Naruto, if you're my friend, then you'll hide me," she quickly replied, hiding her face from the lavender eyed boy. She couldn't let him see her. "And please don't ask questions."

The boy with the bowl shaped hair walked over to Sakura, Naruto, and Tukiko. He was staring at Sakura.

"Hi. My name is Rock Lee," he said. "So yours is Sakura..." Then he smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Let's go out together! I'll protect you until I die!"

Sakura's eye twitched.

"No way. You're lame..."

Naruto laughed as Lee hung his head in rejection.

The boy with lavender eyes stared at Sasuke.

"Hey, you. What's your name?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke and Tukiko could only guess what he was thinking.

"_Damnit! Not Sasuke again!!!_" was what she thought he was thinking.

Naruto was still fuming about everyone asking who Sasuke was while Tukiko continued to hide from the lavender eyed boy. When Sasuke walked over, she quickly switched and hid in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at his sister's actions but said nothing.

"I'll explain later," she whispered feverishly.

"Let's go you guys!" Sakura happily said. She grabbed Naruto and Sasuke's hands while Tukiko walked beside her. She was smiling at how Sakura was her old self again.

The group walked into aroom when they suddenly heard a voice.

"Hey you with the dark eyes."

They turned and looked up to see Lee. Lee was surprised though when he saw Tukiko and Sasuke who were next to each other.

"Which one?" Tukiko asked.

Lee was looking back and forth between the two twins. Tukiko sighed.

"Sasuke, I think he means you."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

Lee shook off the surprise and stared down at Sasuke.

"Will you fight me here?"

The four were surprised.

"A fight now?"

"Yes." Lee jumped down and stood to his feet. "My name is Rock Lee. When you want to learn a person's name, you introduce yourself first, right?"

Sasuke smirked.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Lee slipped into a fighting stance.

"I want to fight you. I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan. Plus..."

Lee winked at Sakura. She was completely disgusted by what Tukiko could tell. Then Lee gave a kiss at Sakura and she was able to dodge it. Tukiko couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Challenging me knowing the Uchiha name," Sasuke said. "Frankly you're a fool. You're about to learn what this name really means, bushy brows."

Lee smirked and slipped back into his fighting position.

"Please..."

"Wait."

Tukiko turned around to see that it was Naruto who spoke.

"Let me take on bushy brows. Just give me five minutes."

"Who I wish to fight is the Uchiha, not you."

"Damn it! I'm sick and tired of hearing about Sasuke!"

Naruto charged at Lee and Tukiko could only cringe. He was starting to get his butt kicked and it wasn't really pretty. The humiliation that was Naruto's performance finally ended when Lee kicked Naruto towards the wall. He slipped down to the floor, unconscious.

"I'll say this: You guys cannot defeat me because right now," Lee said, "I'm the strongest of the Leaf genin."

Sasuke smirked.

"Sounds fun. I'll do it."

"Sasu-chan, no! Don't do it!" Tukiko said. "We don't have time to deal with this!"

"She's right, Sasuke-kun! We only have thirty minutes to get to turn in our applications," Sakura mentioned.

"I'll be done in five minutes."

Before Tukiko and Sakura could protest, Sasuke charged at Lee. The two started fighting and Tukiko could only watch, worried. Sasuke looked like he was going to win but then the fight took a bad turn. Sasuke was unable to dodge any of the attacks that Lee was putting out on him. Lee was just too fast. Then Tukiko saw that Sasuke's eyes turned red into their Kekke genkai that their family was known for: The Sharingan. She gasped.

"No way! Sasuke gained the Sharingan!?" She exclaimed. "Aw man! It's even got the second tomoe in it! Damn it!"

Sasuke charged at Lee again, thinking that with the Sharingan, he could see what techniques he was using. But Lee was still able to kick Sasuke around. Tukiko finally realized that he was using neither ninjutsu or genjutsu, but taijutsu.

"Oh Kami...." She gasped. "Lee, you better not hurt Sasuke too badly with those taijutsu techniques or you'll have to answer to me!"

Lee appeared behind Sasuke in the air and was about to do something with his bandages unraveling when a pinwheel came out of nowhere and pinned the bandages to the wall.

"That's enough, Lee!"

Tukiko looked around the room to see that a giant turtle was there and it was the one who spoke. Lee let go of Sasuke and landed on the floor safely. Sasuke, however, was falling to the floor and before Sakura could react, Tukiko jumped into the air to catch her brother. She landed on the floor gently and placed Sasuke down. Sakura ran over and kneeled next to him while Tukiko was staring at the turtle and Lee.

"Lee, that technique is forbidden!" the turtle was saying.

"I'm sorry, I just... But I wasn't planning on using the other one!"

"Are you crazy!? You could have _killed_ my brother with that technique!" Tukiko yelled, angry at Lee. "If you used some taijutsu technique, you would have seriously hurt him!"

"That boy is right, Lee! An excuse like that won't get you out of trouble! You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal their special techniques!"

Tukiko wasn't even mad that the turtle called him a boy. She was just pissed that someone had the decency to hurt her family.

"Are you prepared to pay the price?" The turtle asked.

Lee hung his hand. "Yes..."

"Then here comes Gai-sensei."

There was a puff of smoke on top of the turtle.

"Jeez, you guys are the epitome of adolescence!"

The smoke cleared to reveal a man who looked almost like Lee except he had a vest on over his suit. He was in a very gay stance that Tukiko blushed in disgust and looked away.

"Oh dear god..."

Tukiko only looked away and walked over to her team. She was so disgusted with the sight of Lee and who she guessed was Gai-sensei.

"You fool!"

She turned back around to only be surprised to see Gai punch Lee.

"You are..."

Tears came to Lee's eyes.

"Sensei..."

Gai kneeled in front of Lee.

"That's enough, Lee, you don't need to say it."

"Sensei!"

Then the two hugged. Tukiko was so weirded out that she and her brother only had these thoughts in their minds.

"_Sasuke (I) lost to him!?"_

Naruto laughed. "Hey! That's good stuff!"

"No!" Both Tukiko and Sakura shouted.

Tukiko shivered and looked away from the scene. She turned to Sasuke who was as weirded out as she was.

"We _never_ speak of this," she said to him.

He only nodded.

"Hey you guys, how's Kakashi-sensei doing?" Gai asked Team 7.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

Gai moved and suddenly appeared behind the team.

"People refer us as Eternal Rivals..."

The team turned around shocked. How did he move so fast?

"Fifty wins and forty-nine losses," he said, flashing a blinding smile and giving a thumbs up. "I'm stronger than Kakashi."

"See! Gai-sensei is incredible!" Lee shouted.

"I swear to this face this will never happen again. You guys and Lee should head over to the classroom now."

Gai took out a kunai and threw it at the pinwheel that held Lee's bandages to the wall. The bandages fell to the floor and Tukiko's eyes wandered over to Lee's hands. Her eyes widened when seeing all of the cuts and bruises that were there. One of the cuts even had stitches! She was thinking about how he must have had intense training.

"Good luck Lee!" Gai said as he disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun, I'll say one more thing," Lee said. "The truth is, I came here to test my abilities. I lied that I was the strongest genin. It is actually someone in my team that is that. I've entered this to defeat him and my next target is you. Be prepared during the exam!"

Lee jumped back up to the balcony and left.

Tukiko turned to her brother who was shaking in anger. She frowned and slipped her hand into his hand. He looked up and saw her smile.

Naruto put his hands behind his head. "Oh well. The Uchiha clan isn't worth much these days."

Tukiko and Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"Shut up," they both said.

"Next time, I'll beat him," Sasuke said.

"Sure, you just got your ass kicked."

"Naruto, shut the hell up!" Tukiko shouted.

Naruto stopped grinning.

"You both saw his hands. That thick brow must have trained really hard, every day. More than you. That's all it is."

Sasuke said nothing and glared at the floor. His grip around Tukiko's hand tightened and Tukiko bit her lip. She hated seeing her brother like this. It just hurt her. Finally, Sasuke's grip on Tukiko's hand slackened as he smirked.

"This chunin exam just got a whole lot funner."

Tukiko pumped her fist in the air.

"Hell yeah it is! Team 7 is going to kick some serious ass, right Naruto?"

Naruto grinned. "Hell yes!"

"Ready to go, Sakura, Naruto, Tukiko?"

"Yeah!"

The four then headed to Room 301. There, they were stopped when they saw Kakashi standing in front of the door.

"Oh, so Sakura came too. Now we can properly take the exam."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The truth is that this exam can only be taken by teams of three."

"Wait...You mean you _lied_ to us?"

"If I told you then Naruto or Sasuke would have pressured you to take the exam. Even if you didn't want to, if Sasuke asked you, you would do it, even though it wasn't in your heart. For the sake of Sasuke, Naruto, and Tukiko."

"So if only Sasuke, Naruto, and Tukiko had shown up?"

"Well, they would be able to take it but I'm figuring that Tukiko wouldn't have done the exam for taking your place."

Sakura looked at Tukiko who only nodded.

"Yeah, Sakura. It wouldn't feel right knowing that I'm new and I just took your place. The guilt would eat me alive."

Sakura smiled.

"Thanks, Tukiko-chan."

Tukiko smiled back.

"No problem, Sakura. After all, us girls have to stick together with these guys badgering us. I mean, earlier, Sasu-chan was practically begging me not to take this exam just because it was 'too dangerous'."

Sasuke glared at his sister and punched her shoulder. Naruto laughed at this and Kakashi only chuckled.

"I'm proud of you four. Now go!"

The four smiled and entered through the classroom doors, ready to take on anything.


	7. More meetings: The Rookie Nine

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 7

The four were shocked when they entered the classroom. There were so many ninjas from different villages. Tukiko had seen a lot of ninjas during her traveling but in this number....It was pretty frightening knowing that she was going to have to go against some of them.

"Sasuke-kun! You're late!"

Tukiko didn't know what happened next but she found herself being hugged from the behind. She almost fell to the ground but was able to right herself back up. Tukiko turned her head slightly to see a girl with long blonde hair tied up and pale blue eyes that was hugging her.

"I haven't see you in a while so I've been waiting in excitement!"

Tukiko's eye twitched. It was another Sasuke fangirl. Tukiko could hear Naruto laughing and she shot a pleading look of help to her brother. He only smirked at her pain.

"Hey! Get your hands off of Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled at the blonde haired girl.

Tukiko groaned mentally. Great. Sakura got her and Sasuke mixed up again.

"Well, if it isn't Sakura," the girl named Ino said. "Big ugly forehead as always."

"What did you say!?"

Ino pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun is mine!!"

Tukiko mouthed a 'help me!' to Sasuke but he merely continued to smirk and mouthed 'No way. You get to see what it's like to be stuck with annoying girls all day'. Tukiko felt her eye twitch and mouthed back 'I'm a girl too, idiot! Does that mean I'm annoying too?!'

Sasuke shrugged. 'You act more like a guy so I don't consider you a girl.'

Tukiko narrowed her eyes. 'Why you...'

Their mouthing conversation was interrupted though when hearing yet another voice.

"Yahoo! Found you guys!"

Ino had let go of Tukiko and had turned to the voice. Tukiko scurried away from her and stood next to Sasuke. She looked at the new people to see a boy with markings on his face and a dog was on his head, a boy with dark sunglasses and a big coat that covered his mouth and a girl with dark short hair and lavender eyes.

"I see all of the Rookie Nine is taking this exam this year," said the boy with the dog on his head. "I wonder how far we'll get. What do you think Sas-" He paused when looking at Sasuke and Tukiko. He was looking between the two confused. "What the hell? Why are there two Sasukes?"

All of the Rookies that had just arrived turned to Sasuke and Tukiko, the newcomers' eyes widening as they looked back and forth at the twins.

"T-There are _two_ Sasuke-kuns?!" Ino exclaimed. She suddenly had hearts in her eyes. "That's better than just one Sasuke-kun!"

Both Sasuke and Tukiko sighed while Naruto laughed.

"Sorry, who ever you are, I don't roll that way," Tukiko said.

"What do you mean by that?" A boy with his dark hair tied up asked her.

Naruto laughed yet again.

"Oh my god! This is just hilarious!"

"So who's the real Sasuke?" the boy with the dog on his head asked. "And who's the clone?"

Tukiko and Sasuke narrowed their eyes at him.

"Shut up, Kiba," Sasuke said. "And this isn't a clone."

"Yeah. For your information, my name is Tukiko Uchiha," she said, chiming into her brother's words. "I'm not a clone, I'm his twin. And two, I'm a freaking girl making me his twin _sister!_"

All of their eyes widened.

"No way! Sasuke-kun has a twin sister!?" Ino exclaimed.

Tukiko nodded. "Yes. And if you ever hug me again like that again, you'll find yourself six feet under."

"Wait, how can you tell each other apart?" Ino asked Naruto and Sakura.

They shrugged.

"I don't know," Naruto said.

"Yeah. I thought that you were hugging Sasuke-kun, Pig, not Tukiko," Sakura admitted.

The dog on Kiba's head barked and Kiba just seemed more confused. "Not even Akamaru can sniff them apart."

"That's because I'm wearing Sasuke's clothes since mine are practically destroyed," Tukiko mentioned. "And just who the hell are you guys?"

"Tukiko, these guys are Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akamichi," Naruto said, pointing to Ino and her group. Then he pointed over to Kiba's group. "And that's Kiba Inuzuka and his dog, Akamaru, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga."

Tukiko nodded at each of them but her eyes widened at Hinata's name. She stepped forward to Hinata.

"Hey, you're Hinata, right?"

"Y-Yes," she quietly said. "N-Nice to m-meet y-you."

"Yeah same here. Look, can we talk?" she asked.

Kiba stood protectively in front of Hinata. He narrowed her eyes at Tukiko.

"What do you need to talk about with Hinata that you can't say in front of us?"

Tukiko glared at Kiba.

"Look Kiba. This is an important matter and I'm not ready to tell anyone else except for Hinata."

Kiba bared his teeth at her.

"Why you-"

"K-Kiba-kun, p-please," Hinata quietly said. "I-I'll t-talk t-to her."

"Hinata, are you sure?"

She nodded.

Kiba stepped aside but growled at Tukiko, "If you do anything to her, I swear I'll-"

"Don't worry, Kiba, I won't do anything," she said.

Tukiko took Hinata by the arm and led her away from the group. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked away with Hinata.

Naruto was tilting his head as the two girls walked away. He turned to Sakura.

"I wonder what Tukiko-chan is going to talk about with Hinata-chan?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. What about you, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

Sasuke didn't reply to her. He already knew what she was going to talk to Hinata about and actually respected her idea of talking to Hinata privately. After all, no one outside of their two clans knew about this at all. He hoped that Tukiko could hide from this idea from everyone else forever but knew it wouldn't last very long.

Once Tukiko and Hinata were a fair distance away and out of their hearing range, Tukiko stopped and turned to Hinata.

"W-What d-do you want to talk about?" Hinata asked.

Tukiko sighed and ran a hand through her short hair.

"Hinata, do you remember six years ago on July 23, you went to the Uchiha estate?" she asked her.

Hinata nodded.

"T-That was yours and Sasuke's birthday right?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. That was also the day I ran away."

"I remember that," she quietly said, sad. "Y-you ran out crying and that was the last time any of us saw you."

Tukiko hung her head, staring at the ground. "Yes. Do you know why I ran away?"

Hinata shook her head. "I-I didn't know what happened but I know that you were upset about something."

"I was upset. Remember that your father announced that day along with my father that I was to marry your cousin, Neji? Well..." Tukiko looked away, ashamed. "That was the main reason why I ran away from the village."

Hinata gasped. "You ran away because of the marriage contract?"

Tukiko nodded. "But you have to understand, Hinata! I-I didn't want to get married when I turned sixteen! I don't have anything against your cousin but I didn't want to marry him since we just met. When I'm older, I want to marry someone I truly love with all of my heart. I didn't want to give my heart away to some stranger. Also, I didn't want to become some pretty little wife that would stay at home to take care of the house! You know how Sasuke and I are so alike? Well, like him, I wanted to become a kunoichi but my Mother and Father wouldn't allow it. So when I found out why they wouldn't let me because of the arranged marriage, I couldn't follow their path so I ran away. Do you understand?"

Hinata was silent for a while. It was a lot to take in. But then she nodded.

"Of course, Tukiko-chan. I understand that you wanted to follow your dream so you left. But what about now that you've returned? You're still bound to that contract."

Tukiko sighed. "I know, I know. I wasn't planning on returning until I was at least seventeen but I wanted to come home and see Sasuke. I missed him."

"So what do we do now? My Father will realize that you came back soon and you'll have to live at the Hyuuga estate, training to be the wife."

"WHAT!?" Tukiko exclaimed loudly. Everyone turned her eyes to her as the room fell silent. She merely glared at everyone. "What? Haven't you ever heard someone yell before?"

They turned away but were still wary of her.

"Are you kidding me, Hinata!?" Tukiko whispered fiercely at her. "I thought that if my clan was dead, the contract would be null and void!"

Hinata shook her head. "I-I'm sorry but as long as the other clan that is part of the contract is still around, the contract is still active."

"Shit! I never thought about that." Tukiko sighed for the millionth time that day and ran a hand through her hair yet again. She turned to Hinata. "Hinata, can you do me a favor and not tell _anyone_ about me? Don't mention me to your Father, your cousin-Actually, the whole clan! And do not tell your teammates that I'm supposed to marry into your family. I'm not really ready for anyone to know that I'm the bride of the Hyuuga clan. I'll tell them on my own time or at least until I figure out some way to get out of that damn contract."

Hinata nodded and smiled. "I promise not to tell anyone."

"Thank you!" Tukiko hugged Hinata as she returned it. "You are seriously my best girl friend, Hinata!"

Hinata smiled.

Tukiko let go of Hinata and looked back at the Rookie Nine.

"I think I should give you back to your team now. Kiba doesn't look happy that I was touching you."

It was true. Kiba was actually scowling and glaring daggers at Tukiko.

"I-I'm sure it's alright. So does that mean you're a genin, Tukiko-chan?"

Tukiko nodded happily. "Yup! I'm finally a kunoichi just like I planned all those years ago."

"T-That's nice."

She nodded and the two girls walked back to the group. They went there to see that a new person had joined the group. He had silver hair that he tied up in at the back of his neck and he had glasses. He also wore a strange purple outfit. The silver haired guy was kneeling on the ground showing the Rookie genins something and they were gathered around him.

Tukiko raised an eyebrow at the new guy. "Who the hell are you?"

The boy turned around and his eyes widened before looking back at Sasuke.

She sighed. "Before you ask, my name is Tukiko Uchiha and yes I know I look a lot like Sasuke. That's because I'm his twin sister."

The boy smirked. "I see....My name is Kabuto. Pleasure to meet you, Tukiko."

"Hn." Tukiko narrowed her eyes at Kabuto before walking to stand next to Sasuke. She didn't like the looks of this guy. She felt that this Kabuto could be bad news in the future.

"So what did you talk about with Hinata, Tukiko?" Ino asked.

"None of your business, Ino," Tukiko said. She turned to Sasuke. "So what are you guys looking at?"

"Kabuto-san has these Ninja Info cards that have a lot of information on shinobis," Sakura explained.

"Do you have cards with individuals?" Sasuke asked Kabuto.

"He, so you're worried about some guys?" Kabuto asked. "Of course. The info on all of this exams participants aren't perfect but I have to do it. Even you guys. Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."

"Gaara of the Desert and Rock Lee of the Leaf."

Tukiko wondered where her brother was going with this then figured it out. After all, she was his twin and they alwasy thought of the same thing. Kabuto pulled out two cards and set them on the ground. He used his chakra to reveal the images on the first card.

"Let's see...Rock Lee is the first. He's an year older than you guys. Mission history: D-Rank-twenty completed C-Rank-twelve completed. His sensei is Gai. His taijutsu has improved greatly in this year but the rest is unimpressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented new genin but did not participate in the exam. Like you guys, this is the first time he's taking the exam. On his team is Neji Hyuuga and TenTen.

"Next is Gaara of the Desert. Mission History: C-Rank-8; Wow, he has one B-Rank even though he's a genin. Since he's a new comer from a foreign country I don't have much info but it seems he returned from each mission unscratched."

Tukiko gasped. This guy must have been good if he came back from each mission without a scratch.

"I need you to show me one more person," Sasuke said.

"Alright, who?"

"Tukiko Uchiha."

Tukiko growled and punched her brother on the shoulder.

"Idiot! I'm your sister! Why would you need information on me for?! I'm your twin, for Kami's sake!"

Sasuke said nothing.

Kabuto blinked at her actions but did what he was told.

"Wow..." He said when he pulled out the card. "There's not much on here."

"No way! Let us see!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kabuto set the card down on the ground for everyone to see.

"Tukiko Uchiha. Says here she recently became a genin of Konoha," Kabuto said. "Doesn't mention her mission history. Let's see...Oh! It looks like since she's from the Uchiha clan, she can probably gain the Sharingan. Other than that, it mentions nothing about her abilities. Her sensei is Kakashi Hatake. Her teammates are Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. She's basically a mystery."

Tukiko shrugged. "Figures. You travel the Nations for six years and yet no one knows much about me."

"You traveled around the Nations for six years!?" Ino shouted in amazement.

"Yeah. I visited Suna, Kumo, the Cresent Moon Island-God I loved that place-, and even visited as far as the Snow Country!" Tukiko told them. "But I didn't stay in one place for long. The longest I've stayed in one place was a year in Iwa."

Kiba snorted. "Yeah right! I bet that's just a bunch of tales!"

Tukiko raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Then what's this?" She reached into her pocket to take out a hitai-ate. But it wasn't their village hitai-ate. It was a hitai-ate from that of Iwa but it had a slash through it. She ran her thumb through the scratch. "I got this from someone there. Haven't seen him since." Her eyes had a far away look in them before she shook her head and put it away, smiling. "So that prove that I really traveled?"

Sasuke stared at his sister. "Don't tell me you made friends with a rogue ninja."

She smirked. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. Who knows?"

Before Sasuke could retort, a ninja out of nowhere attacked Kabuto. He threw two kunai at Kabuto. Kabuto dodged the kunai and came face to face with the ninja. The ninja swung his arm at Kabuto but he dodged the attack. When Kabuto's glasses cracked, everyone was shocked.

"He dodged the blow. How were his glasses broken?" Sasuke wondered aloud. Tukiko wondered the same thing.

The moment Kabuto opened his mouth to speak, he started vomiting. Naruto and Sakura rushed to his side to see if he was okay.

One of the Sound ninja smirked. "You're pretty pathetic considering you've taken the test seven times."

"Everyone shut up!"

A cloud of smoke appeared in the front of the room. The smoke cleared to reveal a man with a head bandanna on his head and scars on his face standing in front of a group of Konoha ninja.

"My name is Morino Ibiki and I will be the chief proctor of this exam." He pointed a finger at the three Sound ninja. "You three cannot carry on in any way you please. If you do something like that again, you'll be disqualified."

"Sorry sir, this is our first exam."

Ibiki smirked. "Then allow me to lay down some ground rules. First of all, there will be no fighting without the express permission of the examiner. Now then, everyone turn in your applications and get a seat number. Once everyone is seated, we'll begin the written exam."

Tukiko and Sasuke turned in their applications. They weren't surprised when they had to sit separately. Tukiko walked to her seat to see that she was seated next to some random ninja. Then she waited until he started the exam.


	8. Marking

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

**Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 8

Time quickly flew by during the exams and now Team 7 found themselves passing the first exam and starting the second. They were now standing in front of a gate that circled around an entire forest nicknamed "The Forest of Death." Tukiko didn't see what could be so scary about this so called forest of death. She really didn't see any fear in anything after she was ambushed multiple times in the past. Things like that could harden a person's fear and make them brave towards the things.

The team was waiting for the signal to start. Tukiko stared up at the forest, seeing the dark, ominous trees that could hold many dangers. She smirked. This was going to be fun as long as Sasuke held onto the scroll they were given. If he lost it, she would murder him.

Finally, they were given the signal to start and the gates opened.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Naruto enthusiastically yelled as they walked into the forest.

Sakura sighed but followed him. Tukiko and Sasuke glanced at each other and smirked before following their teammates. They had started to walk into the forest when they already heard a loud scream sound through the air.

"That was...a human scream, right?" Sakura asked. She shivered. "I'm getting a little nervous."

"This...This is nothing, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, reassuringly. He suddenly stopped and walked over to the bushes. "I got to take a piss."

Sakura punched Naruto in the head before he could open his zipper. "What are you doing in front of a lady!? Do that in the bushes!"

Tukiko blushed. She was still slightly innocent about some certain things that involve anything to do with private parts.

Naruto grumbled and walked to the bushes and out of sight. The three genins waited for him to come out. He finally did, smiling. The moment she saw him, Tukiko could tell that something was wrong.

"Man! So much came out! I feel great!" Naruto said.

"What did I just tell you?!" Sakura yelled.

Before Naruto could answer, both Sasuke and Tukiko punched him in the face. Naruto flew back and hit a tree. Sakura was shocked at this.

"Sasuke-kun, Tukiko-chan, you didn't have to go that far!"

Naruto got up, wiping the blood near his mouth. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Where's the real Naruto?" The twins demanded from him.

Naruto glared at them. "What are you saying all of a sudden?"

Tukiko growled. "Look, we're not idiots. We know that Naruto has his holster on his _right_ leg and not his left. Also, where the hell is that scratch the examiner gave to Naruto on the cheek from earlier?"

"Your transformation skills are worse than Naruto's," Sasuke added.

The fake Naruto frowned and poofed into smoke. A man with black hair and a breathing mask over his mouth replaced him. "Unlucky! You figured it out. Oh well!" he said. "Now which one of you has the scroll?!"

The three got into fighting positions.

"I'll have to take it by force then!" The mysterious man charged at them. Sasuke leapt into the air and started to perform handseals.

"Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Flames shot out of Sasuke's mouth and at the man. The man dodged them and clashed with Sasuke. As Sasuke fought the man, Tukiko started to look around the bushes for Naruto. She finally found him tied up on the ground. She cut the ropes and smirked as she helped Naruto up.

"You really need to watch out, Naruto," she said to him.

Naruto grumbled and stood up.

Suddenly, there was an explosion nearby. Tukiko turned around to see Sasuke barely escape. He had landed on the ground when the man appeared behind him, a kunai at ready. "Now this is lucky! Move and I'll kill you! Hand over the scroll!" the man ordered.

"You leave my brother alone, you asshole!" Tukiko schreeched. One second, she was standing a couple feet away from the two. Then as she moved, she became a blur. The man barely registered what had happened as he suddenly found himself a few feet away. He looked to see that Tukiko was now by Sasuke but she was glaring at him. Actually, as he stared into her eyes, he could see that they were now blood red with a single tomoe swirling around. She was glaring hatefully at him.

Tukiko couldn't take it. She hated the fact that this guy had just _threatened_ her brother! Who ever messes with her family has to die. She started to run at the man, throwing a kunai at him as she did so. The man had gotten up and jumped back. The kunai was right near him and he thought it wouldn't touch him. However, he didn't count on the fact of that Tukiko had jumped into the air and grabbed the kunai before thrusting it into the man's flesh. Blood fell onto her cheeks, her teeth gritted.

The man kicked Tukiko away, holding onto the spot where blood was gushing out. He ran into the trees, disappearing. Tukiko landed onto the ground with a thud. She glared at the direction the man ran at.

"Damn coward," she muttered. Shaking her head, she lifted the back of her hand to wipe away the blood when she saw that her brother and teammates were gawking at her. Sasuke wasn't really gawking by normal standards but by Uchiha standards he was. She blinked in confusion as her Sharingan disappeared. "What?"

"Y-You could have killed that guy!" Sakura said, disbelieved by what she just saw.

"So? It's not like I haven't killed before."

"You've killed someone before!?" Naruto yelled.

Tukiko nodded, walking back to the group. "Yeah. The first time I killed someone was by accident when he attacked me. I got really scared and I didn't know he was dead until I found myself near his body, soaked in his blood." She chuckled darkly. "Besides, no one messes with my family and lives to tell the tale."

Sakura and Naruto shivered while Sasuke was confused. What had happened to his dear twin sister to make her so...so murderous? Before, she didn't like the fact that ninjas killed but now...She was just different. Sasuke shook his head. He would figure this out later.

After the shock of finding out that Tukiko has killed, the team sat around, deciding on what to do with the situation if they were ever seperated from each other. Sasuke had told them that they should have a codeword just in case someone had impersonated another like before. They all agreed and decided that the codeword a question and answer. The question would be, "The Nin Song, 'Nin machine'." and the answer would be "A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. Shinobi must understand the proper time. When the enemy is ill and unprepared." Sakura and Tukiko remembered that in a flash but Sasuke, Sakura, and Tukiko knew that Naruto would never remember that.

They had just decided that Sasuke would hold onto the scroll when a huge gust of wind came out of nowhere. They were all swept off their feet and flew back. Tukiko closed her eyes as she was swept past multiple trees. Her back finally met the trunk of a tree and she fell to the ground.

Tukiko landed on the ground, disoriented from what just happened. She groaned and stood to her feet. That really did hurt and just gave her a massive headache. She shook her head to rid herself of said headache. When it was gone, Tukiko scanned her surroundings to find herself in an unfamiliar place. She felt panic working into her system. "Naruto? Sakura? Sasuke!?"

No one responded.

_Oh, no! I got sepearted from them! How far back did I get blown?_

Tukiko scanned her surroudings yet again, trying to figure out what to do next. She had to go look for her brother and teammates. Who knows what could happen to them...

_No! I can't think something horrible may happen to Sasuke! I can't lose him either!_

But something inside her mind told her that something terrible would occur soon. Tukiko pushed that feeling back and started to walk around the forest, trying to locate her brother.

As Tukiko started to walk around, she felt a wave of sheer fear go through her body. She shivered, holding her arms to keep them from shaking. She immidiately responded to this sudden emotion, her thoughts racing.

_Oh, no! Sasuke's in trouble!_

Like some twins, they both could share the same feelings. But it was only very intense feelings that the twins would react to when the other was feeling something that they shouldn't. Tukiko's heart sped up at the thought of her brother getting hurt. She leapt up into the trees and started to jump through them. Leaves flew past her and into her hair but she didn't care. Her twin was in trouble. She just knew it by the fear that had overcome her. It wasn't just regular fear either. It was the kind of fear that shocked people when they were about to die. Tears made her way to her eyes but she pushed them back. She couldn't start crying when her brother might be in terrible danger. But the thought of losing one of her only family members left and of losing her twin, was starting to get too much to bear. If Sasuke died...She didn't finish that thought.

Tukiko frantically jumped through the trees, turning her head everywhere to find where she was before. It took longer than she thought. A few minutes later, she found herself standing on a branch. She had located her brother and Sakura on one side of the trees while on the other, they were facing a man with a long snake tonuge. Scanning around the area, she found Naruto hanging by a kunai stuck to the tree, unconsious. She looked at the man that her teammates were facing and gasped. His face looked as if a mask was on his face but was burned off. One section showed sickly pale skin and a yellow snake like eye. She instantly recognized this man.

Fear and anger welled up inside Tukiko. What was that man doing here? How did he find her so quickly? He couldn't be here! He just couldn't!

"Sakura, Sasuke! Get out of here! Run!" She screamed to them. They all looked up at her. Sakura and Sasuke were surprised when seeing her. The man simply smiled.

"Ah, Tukiko-chan. There you are," he said. "I've searched so far and wide for you yet you simply ran."

Tukiko growled, her Sharingan activating. "What the hell are you doing here?! Have you come to 'claim me' again?!"

The man chuckled. "No, unfortunately. I had heard that another Uchiha was alive so I decided to take him instead." He made a hand sign which Tukiko recognized. The man's neck started to stretch and launched itself towards Sasuke and Sakura.

"NO!" Tukiko screamed.

Sasuke didn't know what was happening. One minute, he was watching as his sister talking to this man as if she knew him. And it was in fear as well. How did Tukiko know this man? He didn't have time to wonder when he had seen the man's head launch at him. Everything was a blur afterward. He vaguely knew that Tukiko had leapt from her spot on the tree nearby but all he could focus on was the incoming head, the teeth bared just as a snake would. Then suddenly, he found himself pushed onto his back in an awkward position. He had heard Sakura gasp but didn't hear her. Sasuke could only see his sister standing in front of him with the man's teeth sunk into the skin of her neck. The man released her neck and Tukiko fell onto her knees, whimpering and holding her neck.

The man licked his lips, smiling. "Oh, well. I was actually aiming for the boy but you, Tukiko-chan. You will do nicely."

Sasuke crawled over to his sister. His heart was practically breaking at the sight of her. She was biting her lip hard to keep from screaming, tears running down her cheeks. She was also whimpering, still holding her neck. He hugged his sister protectively, holding her like he used to when she was frightened by something. He rocked her like before to calm her but it didn't work. Tukiko simply cried.

"No...No, Sasuke. Please, I don't want this again," she whimpered.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and glared at the man. "What the hell did you do to my sister!?" he snarled.

"I just left another parting gift for her, just like before," he said. The man sank into the ground, a smirk on his face. "Her mark will not go away as easily as before, Sasuke-kun..."

He disappeared into the ground, leaving Sasuke and Sakura.

Tukiko screamed loudly, pain coursing through her. She had to endure this again! Why? Why did this man always have to do such things with her family? Why did she have to endure all of this pain yet again?

_It was all to protect Sasuke,_ a voice in her head told her. The voice was right. It was to make sure Sasuke didn't get the same mark.

Happy with the fact that Sasuke didn't have to go through this pain like she had and will endure, she fainted in her brother's arms.

---

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	9. Protecting

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

**Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 9

After that little run in with Orochimaru, Sasuke and Sakura had to take Naruto and Tukiko to somewhere safe so that they could recover. The two walked around and found a large tree with a hole at the base, big enough for the four of them to rest in. Tukiko and Naruto were laid down on the forest floor side-by-side. Now all Sasuke and Sakura could do was wait until they both had awakened.

Sasuke sat by his sister's side, staring at her face. She was panting and sweat was on her forehead. Sakura had thought of using one of the cloths she brought along with her to use to cool down Tukiko's apparent fever with the water in their canteen. Sasuke didn't argue. Tukiko whimpered in her sleep and it broke Sasuke's heart.

Here he was sitting by his twin sister's side as she suffered through a fever and something else. All Sasuke could think about was how he should have been the one to been bitten. After all, that guy Orochimaru was after him and Tukiko had to jump in to save his life. He felt really awful now and guilty. What kind of brother was he? Wasn't he the oldest of the two? He was supposed to protect his sister, not the other way around! This bothered him, the guilt eating away at him slowly. As he thought of all of this, though, he couldn't help but wonder how Tukiko knew Orochimaru. Had they met before? And if they did, why did his sister hate the man and be frightened of him at the same time? And what did he mean by 'her mark will not disappear as easily as before?' Did that mean Tukiko had somehow gotten that mark before?

Earlier as he carried his sister, he had noticed that something was on her neck, near where Orochimaru had bitten him. It was some kind of three black tomoe marking. He frowned at it. He knew that wasn't there before so it must have appeared when Orochimaru had bitten her. The problem was what did it do?

Throughout the whole night, Sasuke and Sakura had to keep guard. They would switch at times so that they could get some rest. Sasuke couldn't sleep, however, as his thoughts always drifted to that mark. Every time he was on the verge of sleep, it always returned to him, making him worry about his sister.

This continued until morning (by what the two could tell). Sasuke was the one currently keeping watch. Sakura woke up from her small nap and yawned. Once rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she stared at both Tukiko and Naruto. "They're not awake yet?" she asked.

Sasuke didn't respond, only staring at his sister's face.

Sakura sighed and grabbed the dry cloth. She poured water onto it and set it back on Tukiko's forehead. Tukiko sighed in relief in her sleep. Sakura frowned and gazed at Sasuke's worried expression (or close to it, by what she guessed.).

"Sasuke-kun...Tukiko-chan, will be alright," she said to reassure him. "You'll see."

Sasuke gave a small nod.

The two jumped when they heard a rustle in the bushes. Sasuke stood to his feet and took out a kunai. Sakura held her breath. Both of them thought that it would be some enemy trying to get their scroll. However, the two breathed a sigh of relief when seeing that the rustle was just made by a squirrel.

"Oh, it's just a squirrel," Sakura said in relief.

Sasuke tensed back up when seeing something on the squirrel's back. He threw his kunai at the ground near the squirrel. In surprise, the squirrel ran away, frightened.

Sakura gasped. "Sasuke-kun, why did you do that!?"

"Didn't you see what was on it's back? There was a paper bomb on it," he told her. Sasuke turned his eyes at the forest, glaring at it. "Someone's watching us. They thought that we would fall for something small like that."

"But who could be watching us?"

"Maybe someone like us." Three people emerged from the shadows of the forest. All three of them were the Oto ninja from the beginning of the first exam. Sasuke gritted his teeth, getting into a fighting position. "Wake up Sasuke-kun for us. We want to fight him."

Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other. Sakura was just surprised while Sasuke expected this. They thought that Tukiko was him! Maybe he could use this to his advantage.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke said in a high pitched voice to sound like Tukiko (FYI since the Rookie nine is going through puberty, Sasuke's voice got just a bit deeper and since Tukiko's was still the same, he had to raise his voice an octave). It worked since he sounded exactly like her. "What the hell does Orochimaru want with my brother?"

The three Oto ninjas' eyes widened.

"Why did he give Sasuke that cursemark on his neck?!" He demanded from them. He took out another kunai. "He's still recovering and you guys just want to fight him?"

The bandage guy looked at them in thought. "Hmm...I wonder what that man is thinking..."

"After hearing that, we can't let you two go," the boy said. "I'll just kill you girls then go for Sasuke."

"Wait Zaku," the bandaged man said.

"What? Why?"

"You're not very good...A recently overturned stone, different colored dirt, grass where it doesn't grow...Someone obviously set a trap."

Both Sasuke and Sakura gritted their teeth. They had decided to set traps just in case someone ambushed them. Guess that didn't work.

"Hah. What a joke. You threw your kunai so that the squirrel wouldn't set off that trap," Zaku said.

"Now we kill them." The three ninjas leapt at them. Sasuke merely smirked and signaled Sakura from behind. Sakura got the message and cut the wire next to her. Once the wire was cut, a log came out of nowhere.

"You laid a trap above?" The man laughed. "Nice try." He placed his hand on the log and the log broke into peices.

Sasuke cursed and was about to leap at them when someone beat him to it.

"Konoha whirlwind!"

Lee came out of nowhere and knocked the Oto ninjas away from them. He landed near Sasuke. He didn't know whether to be grateful or just pissed that Lee came by. He guessed the former was mostly.

"Who are you?" The man said, in surprise.

"The Beautiful Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee!"

"What are you doing here, Lee?" Sakura asked surprised by the entrance.

"I will always appear when you are in trouble, Sakura."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you, Lee. You saved us."

Sasuke glared at Lee. He didn't need this guy's help protecting his three teammates. He was fine on his own.

The man sighed. "Zaku, you take Sasuke-kun. I'll take care of these guys." Then he charged at them.

Sasuke threw his kunai at the man but he dodged it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Lee punch threw the ground and uplifted a tree root. Sasuke didn't want to admit it but Lee was pretty good. But he knew that although Lee knew what their attacks could be, he knew that the odds were against him. But still, Sasuke would have to trust Lee for now and let him fight.

Sasuke and Sakura watched as Lee fought the Oto ninjas. It looked like he was going to win when he threw Dosu head first into the ground. When Dosu got up from the attack and shook it off like it was nothing, now Sasuke knew that Lee was in trouble. Dosu attacked Lee when he had not yet recovered from that previous jutsu so he barely dodged it. However, Lee fell to his knees and started vomiting and his ears bled as well. Dosu chuckled and said that he and his teammates controlled sound so they didn't need to give physical damage on close combat. They continued to watch try to fight but Sasuke just found it sad. When Lee collasped from trying to protect them, Sasuke had enough.

Dosu was about to attack Lee again but Sasuke stopped him. He appeared in front of Lee, blocking the attack. His eyes were activated to the Sharingan.

"Get out of here before I kill you," he growled, still in a high pitched tone.

He smirked. "Oh? Like a little girl like you could do anything against me."

Sasuke was about to retort that if he was actually a girl he could kick his ass, but stopped when hearing Sakura scream. He looked back but that was a mistake. Dosu just kicked him and he flew back. Sasuke landed on the ground roughly. He looked up to see that the Oto kunoichi had appeared behind Sakura and was gripping her hair. For some reason, that action alone made Sasuke pissed.

"Hey, Zaku. Why don't you kill that Sasuke guy in front of this boy chaser's eyes," the Oto kunoichi said. "That'll teach her a lesson."

"Good idea," Zaku agreed.

"You leave my brother alone!" Sasuke was about to stand to his feet when Dosu pinned him down on the ground. He had roughly pinned his hands behind his back and sat on him, leaving him with no escape. He struggled on his hold but was too weak to do so. He hadn't recovered any of his strength and was too weak. Zaku began to walk towards Tukiko and Naruto. Sasuke struggled further. "Leave her alone, you bastard!"

"Hah! Stop struggling, little girl," Dosu said. "It'll only make things worse for you than they already are."

"Damn it!" Sasuke kept trying to get out. He had to to save his sister. However, he paused when he saw Sakura take out a kunai and cut her hair with it. That released her from that Oto kunoichi's hold on her. He was surprised to say the least. He never thought that Sakura would have the guts to do something like that.

"Kin, kill her!" Zaku yelled.

But Kin was too slow. Sakura had already used the substitution technique and was charging towards Zaku. She used another substitution to avoid Zaku's kunai. She appeared above him and this time allowed herself to be struck by the kunai. Zaku was shocked when he realized this and didn't have time to react when Sakura fell on him and began biting his arm.

Sasuke was impressed with Sakura for a while. He never thought she would even have the guts to do all of that. It just goes to show that he might have underestimated her when it came to will power.

"Get off of me!" Zaku yelled.

But Sakura refused to let go. Zaku began to punch Sakura repeatedly on the head. At this, Sasuke growled and used his remaining chakra to get Dosu off of him. He gathered the chakra to his hand and released the chakra as he roughly pushed Dosu off of him. Dosu was surprised and fell back. Then Sasuke raced to go help Sakura.

"Leave her alone!" Sasuke kicked Zaku in the head roughly. Zaku yelled out in pain and stopped punching Sakura. While he was distracted, Sasuke picked up Sakura and led her back to where Tukiko and Naruto were. Sakura was surprised that Sasuke would even do that for her. Sasuke got back into a battle position and glanced back at Sakura. "You did enough. Stay with Naruto and Sasuke while I take care of these guys."

Sakura's eyes widened. Then she nodded.

Zaku recovered from the kick and stood to his feet, glaring at Sasuke. "So little girl, you think that'll stop me? That only made me mad and want to kill you for that! You'll pay dearly for it too."

Sasuke said nothing. Only glaring at him. But he knew that he couldn't fight back. He had used what was left of his chakra to get that guy Dosu off of him. Now he was in a tight fix.

Suddenly, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji came out of nowhere and appeared in front of him. Sasuke might have been glad to see them but he was only pissed that everyone was just coming out of nowhere.

"I-Ino, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, surprised yet again.

Ino looked back at them, smirking. "I told you I would never be shown up by you."

"I-Ino..."

Sasuke shook his head. He might have been upset but he was currently grateful for them. He turned back to Tukiko and noticed that Tukiko's hand was clenching tightly at the dirt. Worry creeped inside of him, making him run over to his sister to see what was wrong with her. He knelt by her side, examining her. What he saw shocked him. He felt an evil chakra emitting from his sister. Something he had never felt from her. He grabbed onto Tukiko's hand and held it tightly with both of his.

"Tukiko...."

_Please be okay..._


	10. Power

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 10

Tukiko opened her eyes to find herself standing in a blurry void. She looked all around her, her heart beating a mile a second.

"This is...!" She recognized this place so well.

Something appeared in front of her. Tukiko looked up to see a seven year old little girl with short raven hair, wearing a high collared shirt and shorts. The girl was crying.

"Why...Why did I have to leave him all alone?" She sobbed.

Tukiko gasped. _No...It can't be..._

The background suddenly changed to inside a home. It was dark in the room but the moonlight that shined through the window was shining down on two figures on the ground. The figures were a man and a woman. Tears edged her vision. It was her parents. Just near the two bodies was a little boy that looked identical to the little girl. He was crying as well.

"Mother...Father..." he sobbed.

Tukiko's hand flew to her mouth. It was Sasuke.

The little girl appeared behind Sasuke. She lifted her head to stare directly at Tukiko. She smirked cruelly at her. "You let everyone die. You left your dear twin brother to go all of this pain and suffering while you were having the time of your life."

"N-NO! I-It's not like that!" Tukiko said.

"Oh? Then why does your older brother wish to kill you and your brother?" The little girl's voice changed to that of someone else. She lifted her hand and held it to her face. Then she pulled it down to reveal a yellow snake eye. "If you had the strenght then you would have never run away from the first place and helped your dear brother. But no...You left your brother to suffer..."

"NO!"

---

Sasuke was watching as Lee's team arrive to help them. Neji was about to help but stopped when seeing Tukiko-who he thought was Sasuke. Sasuke felt a shift beside him and turned to see Tukiko rising to her feet. Sasuke was glad that she was finally awake but stopped when feeling evil chakra coming from her. Tukiko stood up straight and Sasuke was shocked. He saw that the left side of his twin's body was covered in black flame like markings. Her eyes were also activated in the Sharingan and held a second tomoe. Tukiko looked at both Sasuke and Sakura, her eyes narrowing.

"Sakura...Sasuke...who did this to you?" She said, menacingly.

"T-Tukiko-chan..."Sakura stuttered.

Sasuke examined his sister's body, covered with those markings. "What happened to your body?"

Tukiko smirked, cruel in the eyes of everyone there. "Don't worry, brother. It's nothing really. Just the immense strength granted to me. I've never felt better." Her smirk grew wider. "I always thought Orochimaru was evil but this gift he gave me...It's not as bad as before. Now I'll be able to protect you and never leave you alone ever again."

Sasuke was shocked beyond belief. This was the gift that Tukiko had before?

Tukiko turned her gaze to the Oto ninjas. Her head tilted in curiousity and her hand on her hip. "Now, tell me dear brother. Which one of these guys dared to mess with my team?"

Zaku smirked. "That'd be me."

Tukiko glared at Zaku, chakra and killer intent rising from her. She watched with amusement as Dosu trembled. Then she saw Zaku making hand seals. He pointed the palms of his hands at her.

"Ultimate slicing wave!" The sound sliced through the air and towards them. It was so large that it marked even the ground with the attack. Everyone in the area had to sheild their bodies from being blown away. Zaku smirked, expecting to see nothing there. There wasn't. He smirked. "What do you know? Blew them all away!"

"Blew who away?" a voice beside him said.

Zaku only turned to see Tukiko by him when he was knocked away. He rolled down at Dosu's feet.

Sasuke and Sakura were amazed as they sat behind Tukiko with Naruto near them. She had been able to move them away from the attack in a blink of an eye. They watched as Tukiko attacked the Oto ninjas with a fire jutsu. Zaku retailiated by blowing the flames away but was surprised when shuriken was hidden inside. The shuriken peirced his flesh. Before he could even register what happened, Tukiko appeared behind him and grabbed both of his arms, pulling them backwards. Her foot was on his back.

Tukiko smirked cruelly. "You're very proud of these arms of yours, aren't you?" She began pulling them backwards. Zaku's screams were heard by everyone. She dropped him when hearing the satisfying snap in both of his arms. Then she turned to Dosu, who froze at her sight. "Looks like there's only one more left. I hope you're more intresting than your friend here."

Sasuke watched as Tukiko began to walk towards Dosu. He shook his head, gritting his teeth. There was no way that could be his sister. Even his sister wasn't that twisted enough to break that guy's arms. His sister was sweet and gentle. Her smile was the only thing that made him smile. Whoever this person, who only smiled at the pain of others...It was not his twin.

"Tukiko, stop it!" Sasuke stood to his feet and ran at Tukiko. He grabbed her from behind, hugging her. No one was able to see this but Sasuke was crying, hiding his face on his sister's shoulder. Tukiko turned her head to see Sasuke. "Tukiko, please don't do this. I know you're better than this."

Tukiko saw that her twin was crying. Her killer intent lowered which made the markings on her body start to retract and disappear. When they were all gone, Tukiko collapsed in her twin's arms. Sasuke caught her before she fell and lowered her onto the ground. He sighed in relief, wiping away his tears.

"Your sister is strong, Sasuke," Dosu said. He took out his scroll and put it on the ground. "Too strong. We can't possibly fight her as she is now. We'll make a deal. You let us go and we give you our scroll." He picked up his two unconsious teammates and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Sakura cried. "What is Orochimaru up to?"

"We don't know." Then Dosu vanished.

Sasuke stared down at Tukiko. He scowled. What was that power his sister used? That wasn't any normal chakra he had felt. It wasn't even her own.

Just then, Tukiko groaned and opened her eyes. She blinked and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked around to see the people there. "Sasuke? Where...Where are we? And why are there so many of the genins here?"

Sakura came over and sat beside her. "You don't remember?" she asked, disbeliefed.

Tukiko put a finger to her lips in thought. "Well...The last thing I remember was that bastard Orochimaru biting my neck. Everything is a blur right after that."

Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other at the corners of their eyes. Tukiko didn't remember anything that had just happened? That was weird.

Tukiko looked around the area and gasped when seeing Lee on the ground, hurt. "Oh my god! What happened to Lee?" Then she looked at Sakura, her hair cut. "Sakura, what did you do to your hair? How much did I miss?"

"Sakura-chan, what happened to your hair?!" The three turned around to see Naruto coming over, now fully awake.

Sakura touched the back of her hair and smiled. "Oh this? I thought that it was time to cut my hair and all. It gets in the way when we're outside."

Tukiko smiled her usual smile. "Good for you, Sakura. I always wanted long hair." She sighed, touching the back of her short hair.

"Too bad it never happened," Sasuke muttered. She frowned and punched her twin on the shoulder.

"Hey, stop saying bad things about Lee!" Sakura shouted. The twins turned to see her punch Naruto on the face. Sakura turned to Lee and bowed. "Thank you, Lee. You and Sasuke-kun gave me the courage to stand up for myself. So thank you."

A huge question mark was on Tukiko's face. She growled. "Okay, can someone _please_ tell me what I missed out on!? I'm tired of being out of the loop!"

Everyone looked at Sasuke. He frowned. Seeing as he was Tukiko's twin, he had to have the job of explaining what had happened. Without a word, Sasuke grabbed Tukiko's arm and pulled her away from everyone else. When they were out of hearing range, Tukiko folded her arms and glared at her brother.

"What's going on?"

"After you and Naruto fainted, Sakura and I had to find shelter..." Sasuke started. He started to tell her everything that had happened. He told her about the Oto ninjas, how Lee had jumped in to help them, how Sakura did that noble act of cutting her hair, all the way to where she had woken up with those markings. As he explained this, he left out the part of where he was crying. His sister wouldn't like that if she knew he made him cry (which is nearly impossible, even when they were younger). He ended by saying she fainted after that and woke up not remembering all of that.

Silence occured between the two. Tukiko was staring at the ground, her hand on her neck where the mark was. She frowned. All of that happened? Including that part where she acted all evil and sadistic? Oh no...It was happening again. She bit her lip. She didn't want this curse mark! She was crazy to think that this mark was a gift. What bothered her was going to be on how she was going to get rid of it. Like Orochimaru said, this time it would be difficult to get rid of it. _Damn..._

Sasuke slipped his hand onto her hand, making her jump. She looked up to see Sasuke worried. She smiled, reassuringly. "Stop worrying, Sasu-chan. I'll be fine."

"It's not that," he muttered. She tilted her head. "That power made you sadistic. I don't ever want to see you like that."

Tukiko's face dropped. Then she smiled, putting her hand on her sibling's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sasu. I hate using that mark so I won't use it ever again."

_I hope..._She added to herself.

Sasuke was hesitant but he nodded.

With their hands still entertwined, Tukiko led Sasuke back to the group. Ino was currently fixing Sakura's hair while Shikamaru, Chouji, TenTen, Lee and Naruto were just talking. When they arrived at the group, Tukiko saw that Neji jumped down and headed for the group. Tukiko panicked and hid behind Sasuke. Everyone was confused when she did that. Neji walked over to his teammates.

"Is Lee alright?" he asked.

TenTen nodded. "He's fine. Just a bit injured, is all."

"Alright. We need to head out." Neji glanced over at Tukiko and smirked. Sasuke glared at him as he walked over to Tukiko. By this time, Tukiko's face was flushed pink, completely flustered with the situation. Neji grabbed Tukiko's hand and did something everyone was surprised with. He kissed it. "It is a relief to see you alive and well, Tukiko-san."

Tukiko growled and wretched her hand out of Neji's. "Do. Not. Touch. Me. Ever. Again."

Neji merely smirked as he jumped into the trees. TenTen and Lee stared at Tukiko before they followed him.

Tukiko called over Neji, screaming, "If you tell anyone about that thing, I swear I'll assassinate you in your sleep!!!" Then she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Ugh! I hate Neji!"

"What was that all about?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

He shrugged. "Dunno. I didn't even think that Neji knew Tukiko." Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Hey Teme, what was all that about?"

Sasuke didn't answer, just glaring at the direction Neji just left in. Tukiko was muttering curses at Neji. Damn! Now how was she going to avoid him? He would obviously tell his uncle that she's alive! Then he would take her away from Sasuke, which she did not want. She screamed in frustration. First she has to find some way to get rid of her curse mark, keep her engagement a secret, _and now_ make sure Neji keeps his mouth shut. Could her life get anymore frustrating?

Apparently it could.


	11. Matches

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 11

Tukiko sighed in relief, happy that the Forest of Death part was over. They were in that forest for so long. She never wanted to go back in there.

Right now, all of the teams that had passed the second exam were standing in front of the Hokage and the other jonins/chunins. The Hokage went on about the villages being allies and stuff by taking thsi exam. Tukiko didn't listen though. She thought it was boring. However, she started to pay attention when the third exam proctor, Hayate, announced that they had to hold preliminary matches since there was still too many people passing. Sakura asked what was the point of all of this and Hayate said that they weren't expecting this many people to pass. So they were going to elminate the amount by holding the preliminary matches.

Tukiko was psyhced. Now she could show what she was made of and not some weak girl. No one knew about her abilities and jutsus so she was going to use these matches to surprise them. She had to wait though, because Sasuke and that sound ninja on Kabuto's team were fighting first.

Everyone who wasn't fighting began to go upstairs. Tukiko hugged Sasuke first. "Good luck, Sasu-chan!"

"Hn." He hugged back.

Tukiko let go of Sasuke and headed upstairs where Naruto and Sakura were at with Kakashi. She leaned against the railing and watched her brother fight.

The match began. Tukiko cheered on her brother as he fought. She was amazed that her brother could fight like that. Sasuke used a fireball jutsu at the Oto ninja and he dodged it. However, he didn't see that Sasuke was right behind him. Sasuke chopped as his neck and the guy was passed out.

Hayate inspected the Oto ninja. "The match goes to Sasuke Uchiha."

Tukiko cheered loudly. Her brother made it to the Finals! When Sasuke came upstairs, she hugged him around the neck, jumping up and down. "Sasuke, you did it!"

Sasuke smirked proudly. Tukiko released him, smiling.

"Just wait. If I win, then I could probably fight you during the Finals."

"You wish," Sasuke said.

Tukiko rolled her eyes and paid attention to the computer so that it could announce the next match. The computer started to roll through the names and stopped. Tukiko smirked.

**Tukiko Uchiha vs. Yoroi**

"Great! Now it's my turn!" Tukiko said, happily.

"Good luck, Tukiko-chan!" Naruto said.

"Good luck!" Sakura joined.

Sasuke merely nodded; his way of saying good luck.

Tukiko started to walk down to where that Yoroi guy was waiting but was stopped by Kakashi. She tilted her head at him when seeing his grim expression. "What's wrong, sensei?" she asked.

"Don't use your Sharingan," he warned her. "That mark on your neck could be dangerous."

Tukiko's hand automattically touched her cursemark. She smiled up at him. "Oh, I know. Don't worry. I'll be fine." With that, she walked down to the field and faced Yoroi.

"Tukiko Uchiha vs. Yoroi," Hayate announced. "Begin!"

Yoroi reached into his pack and took out shuriken. He threw them at Tukiko but she merely brought out a kunai and deflected all of them. She gasped when she felt her body energy falter and she winced. _Damn! Why does it do that _now?!

Tukiko saw a flash of purple as she dived to the side. Rolling back onto her feet, she saw Yoroi getting at her again. Tukiko noticed that his hand was glowing blue with chakra and moved her head to the side to dodge the punch aimed for her head. Yoroi ran at her again with his hand outstretched. Her mark started to react, making Tukiko falter but she dodged the attacks aimed at her nonetheless.

Tukiko continued to dodge the attacks that Yoroi was going at her with. When Yoroi punched at her, she would back flip back; when he kicked at her, she would jump into the air; if he used weapons on her, she would retailiate with her own. This process went on for awhile but Tukiko knew it couldn't be forever. She jumped into the air when Yoroi kicked at her feet but she was more than surprised when he grabbed her ankle. He slammed her down onto the ground. The breath was knocked out of her, disorienting her. Before she knew it, Yoroi was pinning her onto the ground and his hand grabbing her forehead. She struggled against him, kicking and flailing trying to get him off of her.

Yoroi laughed. "Finally! You're a slippery little thing aren't you? No matter. That won't happen again."

His hand started to glow blue with chakra. Tukiko gasped as her energy began to leave her. Within a few seconds, she was exhausted to the point of fainting. Her eyes glared at Yoroi tiredly. Gritting her teeth, she moved her foot to kick Yoroi in the stomach and he flew back. Tukiko sluggishly stood to her feet, ready to faint but willing herself not to. Black spots edged her vision. She shook her head.

_Damn it! I can't faint now! I have a match to fight!_ Tukiko cursed under her breath. _Looks like I have to use _that.

With a deep sigh, Tukiko took a step back, her eyes closed. Her left hand started to undo the latch of the bracelet on her right wrist. Sasuke was surprised. Why was his sister taking off his birthday present to her? He was surprised when the bracelet fell to the ground only to make a huge dent into the floor. Then Tukiko started to take off her shoes and threw them to the side.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Naruto asked, bewildered. "And how did her bracelet make that huge dent in the floor!?"

"Hm...Who knew that she had that on the whole time," Kakashi mused to himself.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura stared at Kakashi.

"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Just watch Tukiko."

They turned their attention back to Tukiko who was calm despite her exhaustion. Yoroi laughed.

"Like taking off your shoes will help you here, little girl."

Tukiko smirked. "Oh really?" She stepped forward but vanished from everyone's sight. Yoroi looked around the arena to see where she went. However, he failed to notice that he was kicked on the side and went flying to the side. He didn't even hit the ground as he was kicked at the side again and sent into the air. Tukiko jumped into the air and kicked Yoroi higher and higher until he was near the ceiling. "I beg to differ!"

While in the air, Tukiko flinched at the burning sensation her neck emitted. Her whole neck was on fire and her body started to feel warm. Looking at her hand, she noticed that red flamelike marks started to cover her body. _Damn it!_

Sasuke gritted his teeth, frowning when seeing the curse mark. Why was it activating now of all times? Tukiko might be in huge danger now!

_No! I refuse to be used again! I won't use this mark! _Tukiko squeezed her eyes shut, willing the curse mark to leave her and to get it under control. After a few seconds, it seemed to burn before it went back to her neck. With that out of the way, Tukiko got back into her attack.

She elbowed Yoroi in the chest so that he was sent flying down. With a scream of pain, he was surprised as Tukiko flew down to him. When in range, she flipped once before slamming her foot down onto his chest. "Swallow's fury!" He slammed into the ground, blood spurting from his mouth. Tukiko slid across the arena, lying face down on the ground. Both opponents weren't moving.

Hayate walked over to Yoroi and inspected him. He saw that Yoroi was out for the count. He looked over to Tukiko and saw that she was struggling to her feet. She could only get as far as sitting up. Her chest heaved with pants, trying to regain air. Her whole head spun and she felt like she was about to faint. Hayate saw that she was still okay and announced, "This match is over. The winner is Tukiko Uchiha."

Sakura and Naruto cheered in joy. Sasuke, however, was worried about his twin. He saw that she was ready to faint any minute now. She started to fall back slightly but stopped when her back was being supported back Kakashi's knee, who suddenly appeared behind her. Sasuke rushed down to Tukiko and knelt by her side. "Are you alright?" he asked her, touching her arm.

Tukiko wearily cracked a smile. "I'm fine. Ready to sleep for years but fine." She yawned widely and waved towards her shoes and bracelet. "Sasu-chan, could you be a good older brother and get my stuff for me? Thank you!"

Sasuke sighed and went to retrieve his sister's things. He grabbed onto Tukiko's bracelet first and eyed how it was still in that huge dent. With no other thought, he grabbed onto it and lifted it up before dropping it again. It fell to the floor and made the dent even bigger. He stared at surprise at that. "What the?"

Kakashi walked over and picked up the bracelet like it was nothing. He turned it over in his hands, a glint of amusement in his eye. "Well, what do you know? She actually did that to this bracelet."

"What are you talking about, Kakashi?" Sasuke questioned his sensei.

Kakashi held out the bracelet. "Believe it or not, Sasuke, but Tukiko had put a seal on this bracelet so that it could be made heavier. The same thing goes for her shoes." He dropped the bracelet and it made a dent in the floor again. "I'd say that weighs about as heavy as a fully grown man. Maybe more."

"No way." Sasuke attempted to pick up the bracelet again but couldn't. It wouldn't budge.

"Oops! I forgot to take that off!" Tukiko shouted to them. She made a single hand sign and felt a shift in her chakra. "Try picking it up now!"

Sasuke stared at his sister again, thinking she was crazy, but decided to listen to her. To his amazement, when he picked up the bracelet it only weighed little more than a pound. He stared at the bracelet, turning it over. "How did...?"

Kakashi chuckled. "It seems our little Tukiko here is talented. She can adjust the weight of her shoes and bracelet to how she likes with those seals on. She couldn't remove the seal during her match so she took them off. Who knew that she specializes in speed?"

Sasuke stared at the bracelet, thinking over what Kakashi just said. His sister had weights on the whole time? And he didn't even notice? He turned to her sister, swaying to stay awake. _How strong is Tukiko?_

While Sasuke went to retrieve Tukiko's shoes, Kakashi walked back to Tukiko. He had to support her with his legs so that she wouldn't faint on him. Two medics were taking Yoroi away on a strecther and another walked up to Kakashi. "I think we should take Uchiha-san to the infirmary. We need to treat her injuries."

"Don't worry yourself with this one. She's out of your league. I'll handle her," Kakashi told him.

The medic didn't seem so sure but he left the two alone.

"Alright, Tukiko-chan, you're coming with me." He knelt down to her level with a serious look on his face. "We need to seal that curse mark before it causes more trouble."

"Huh?" Tukiko didn't like the sound of her curse mark being sealed up. It wouldn't work any way. She glanced over to Sasuke, who was looking at her bracelet, and bit her lip. She needed some other way for the curse mark to be sealed up without it interfering but how? Last time she had that thing, she went to one of the sealing experts she knew and even he couldn't seal up the thing. What was she going to do? Tukiko kept staring at Sasuke. She knew all of this was hurting her twin. After all, it was like they were two halves of one single person...

The wheels in her head started to turn at that sentence.

_Wait, that's it!_

_"_Kakashi, I have another plan," Tukiko told him. An idea formed in her head and she smirked. "But we're going to need Sasuke in this as well."

---

Ooh! Cliffy! I don't know if the fight was good or anything since I basically copied Sasuke's fight but changed a few things. Oh well!

Review please!


	12. Sealing and memories

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

**Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 11

"Are you sure you want to do this, Sasuke?" Tukiko asked her twin as they sat back to back. The two were sitting in the middle of a sealing circle that Kakashi had made to try to seal the curse mark within Tukiko. But the young girl had other plans and it unwillingly involved her twin brother. They both had their shirts off, bindings covering her breasts and acted like a bra. She didn't mind that she had her shirt off but this time, not in the prescence of her perverted sensei though he didn't look at her.

The plan that Tukiko had concocted in her head was a bit risky in a way. Her plan was to divide the curse mark among two people so that the overwhelming power it gave to one person wouldn't work when it was divided among two people. The mark wouldn't take over the two people but they would have much more chakra than usual. The plan was perfect...in a way. The downfall of this supposedly brilliant plan was that the two people weren't allowed to be away from each other for more than 24 hours. Otherwise, the person with the most chakra would steal the other half of the seal from the other person and the seal would be whole again. It would also cause immense emotional pain among the two though Tukiko didn't tell Kakashi that.

This plan would actually work since she and Sasuke were twins. They wouldn't even be away from each other even if they had to. Problem was that Tukiko didn't want to do this to her brother. She didn't want to share her pain...her burdens...it was hers alone and she couldn't put this on her twin's shoulders. But it was the only way.

Kakashi didn't know what to think of the plan when Tukiko first explained it to him. He knew that it sounded good but there was something that was bothering him about it. He decided to ignore it for now until he knew that his new student was away from the control of Orochimaru.

Sasuke nodded. Tukiko bit her lip at that. She didn't want her brother to do this but she had to. When she told Sasuke of the plan on the way down, she was hoping for him to say no. But he said yes. She told him that he shouldn't do this. It was her pain and her pain alone. This wasn't meant for Sasuke. Sasuke only told her that it was his fault she was bit in the first place It was his duty as her teammate and her brother to carry that burden as well.

Kakashi began to write kanji seals on both Sasuke and Tukiko's bodies in blood. He wrote the kanji seals in the middle of the curse mark and made sure that the marks led to Sasuke's neck. He stood at the side of the two siblings, solemnly looking at the pair of them.

"Are you both ready?"

Sasuke nodded but Tukiko hesitated. She was starting to regret coming up with this plan. Doubt made its way to her heart. What if this didn't work? What if Sasuke was going to be in so much pain? What if they couldn't handle the seal? Questions like these only made Tukiko want to stop this whole plan and let Kakashi seal the thing in like he originally planned even if it didn't work.

Sasuke saw Tukikio's hesitation and grabbed onto her hand tightly. Tukiko looked over her shoulder to her brother. He nodded with certainty, telling her with his eyes that they could do this. Though in distress, Tukiko gave a sad smile and nodded.

"We're ready, Kakashi," the two said.

Kakashi nodded and started to perform hand seals. With each hand seal, Tukiko only grew more and more nervous. She gripped tightly to Sasuke's hand, afraid for him...them. At the last hand seal, Kakashi placed both palms of his hands onto Sasuke and Tukiko's neck. "Curse Sealing: Divide!"

The twins screamed in pain, their voices echoing across the dark hall. The pain was so immense and they couldn't see staright. The seal began to divide itself straight down the middle. One half of the seal started to slither its way towards Sasuke's shoulder where it would stay. The blood seals then formed a circle around the two halves and turned black to signal the end of the sealing. The pain stopped and the two panted.

Without warning, they both fell unconsious, losing the will to stay awake any longer.

---

_"Tukiko!"_

_A four year old Tukiko looked down from her floral arrangement that her teacher told her to make. Hearing the hiss coming from below, she saw Sasuke crouching right under the table she was working at. Her eyes widening, she turned to see if the floral teacher wasn't paying attention. She wasn't; she was paying attention to another little girl. Tukiko ducked her head down to her brother._

_"Sasu-chan, what are you doing here?! How did you even get in?!" she whispered harshly to him. The place she was at was inside so there was no way that her brother could have snuck it._

_Sasuke grinned. "The people in the front thought that I was you. And your teacher didn't even notice me sneak under the table!"_

_Tukiko blinked and saw that her table was right near the door. It was slightly open and Sasuke could have ducked inside and under a table without the teacher noticing._

_"But what are you doing here? You're not allowed to be here!"_

_"I thought I would come and bust you out!" He said. "I know you hate doing this and there's a street fair today!"_

_"A street fair?"_

_"Yeah! And it's only for the whole day today too!"_

_"Well..." Tukiko looked up at where the floral teacher still wasn't looking her way. She really wanted to go to the street fair but she didn't want to get in trouble. But she wanted to spend the whole day at the fair instead of inside. Weighing her options, she nodded. "Alright. I'll go! But how will I get out?"_

_"Leave that to me!" Sasuke took out a toy kunai from his pocket. He turned around a bit so that he could face the window. Then with a swift hand, he threw the kunai at the window. It broke through the window with a shatter and glass flew onto the ground. Most of the girls screamed while the floral teacher went outside to see who did that. Sasuke looked back up at Tukiko, who was trying hard not to laugh. "Come on!"_

_Tukiko ducked down under the table and followed her brother to the door. Luckily all of the girls and the teacher were too distracted to see them leave. Once at the door, they scrambled to their feet and ran out of the building without any of the adults noticing them leaving. Outside, they started to laugh and ran towards the market street where the fair was being held. Once there, the two started to go to the multiple stands and had fun. Most of the villagers started to coo over the twins as they passed by but they ignored them._

_All of the fun ended two laters._

_Tukiko was following Sasuke to a stand that sold masks that looked like the ANBU ones. Her eyes wandered to a stand that had a shuriken throwing game. Smiling, she wandered over there to see the person throw shuriken. She clapped when the boy got all of the targets and wished she could do something like that._

_"Sasu-chan, did you see-" Tukiko turned around to talk to her twin but saw that no one was beside her. She started panicking and turned her head up and down the street to catch sight of her twin. Only a crowd of people she didn't know was there on the street. And since she was so small, she couldn't see above them either. "Sasu-chan? Sasuke!?"_

_Tukiko started to wander around the street, trying to look for her twin brother but saw him nowhere in sight. She continued to look for him until the sun started to set. When the lights started to go on, tears filled her eyes. No one noticed her crying in the middle of the street._

Sasuke..._ She started crying loudly. Where was her twin brother? She was starting to get scared then realized that she had to be home by now. Even that she didn't know where she was! Her family never let her out of the Uchiha estate unless it was for her lessons and it was always with her mother. Tukiko remembered that her mother also told her that she shouldn't be out at night for someone could take her away._

_"Sasuke!" Tukiko cried. "Where are you?"_

_"Hey look," a gruff voice said near her. Tukiko looked up through her tears to see two men there. Her onyx eyes widened, more tears running down her cheeks while her head screamed for her to run. One of the men grinned. She could smell something funny on the man's clothes. "What's a cute little girl like you doing here?"_

_Tukiko only whimpered, backing up. She jumped in the air when she felt something behind her. Looking around, she saw that it was the other man, grinning as well. The grin on the mens' faces had something frightening in them, scarying her to her very core. She gasped when one the man behind her picked her up. Then she started screaming her head off._

_"SASUKE!!! HELP ME!!!"_

_Her cries of help were silenced when the man clamped his hand over her mouth. "Be a good little girl and be quiet."_

_Tukiko merely muffled screamed, flailing to get out of the man's grip. The grip on her was tightening, making her scream again. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and bit his hand. The man screamed and nearly dropped her but didn't. That only made him angry. "Why you little-"_

_"Leave my sister alone!!!"_

_Someone suddenly kicked the man on the legs hard, making him finally drop her. Tukiko fell to the floor, looked up, and smiled. "Sasuke!"_

_Sasuke smiled and helped her to her feet. Tukiko hugged him, crying._

_"I was so scared!"_

_Sasuke hugged back. "Don't worry, Tukiko. I'll protect you."_

_"Do you think so, brat?" The two looked up to see the two men glaring at them. Sasuke stood in front of Tukiko, ready to protect her. One of the men grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt, lifting him into the air. Then he raised his fist near his face. "We'll see about that!"_

_Tukiko gasped as the man was about to punch her brother but was more than surprised when a hand stopped the fist._

_"Do not touch my siblings."_

_It was Itachi._

_Itachi pushed the man back while grabbing Sasuke out of the man's grasp. He set him down next to Tukiko. She held onto her brother's hand tightly, afraid that he was going to get hurt for a second. Itachi glared at the two men._

_"Get out of my sight before I detain the both of you for attempting rape."_

_The twins saw that Itachi's pupils were activated to the Sharingan. The two men saw his eyes and immidiately ran down the street and out of their sight. Once they were gone, Itachi turned his red eyed gaze towards his sibilings. They knew that they were in trouble, because the only time that Itachi ever had his Sharingan on when not on battle was if he was mad or frustrated._

_"Do you know how much trouble the two of you are in?!" he hissed at them. They flinched. "Everyone's been worried sick about you two! Especially Tukiko!"_

_"Don't blame Tukiko, Aniki," Sasuke said. "I'm the one who snuck her out so that we could go to the festival."_

_Itachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand, his eyes shut. "Then I suppose that you will be the one getting in trouble, Sasuke."_

_"Wait!" The brothers stared at Tukiko, who was hanging her head. "Don't blame Sasuke, Aniki. I-I was the one to wander off in the first place and none of this would have ever happened if I didn't lose Sasuke. I'll take the blame."_

_"But Tukiko-"_

_"No, Sasuke. It's my fault." Tukiko gave the puppy dog eyes at Itachi. "I'll take the punishment mother and father give. Just as long as Sasu doesn't get in trouble."_

_"Tukiko..." Sasuke stared at his twin, feeling guilty that she was going to take the blame when all of this started because of him._

_Itachi glanced between his twin siblings, seeing that Sasuke wanted to take blame as well as Tukiko. He sighed, deactivating his Sharingan._

_"I think it would be best if we just say that I took Tukiko out of her class and took the both of you out at the fesitval."_

_Sasuke and Tukiko were shocked that their brother would say that. Then they smiled and jumped and hugged him tightly around the legs._

_"Thank you, Aniki! You're the best!" they exclaimed together._

_Itachi chuckled, ruffling the twins' hair affectionately. "You're welcome, Imouto and Otouto."_

Tukiko shot open her eyes, breathing hard. Once her vision focused, she saw that she was facing a dreary blank ceiling. Confused, Tukiko leaned up on her arms to see that she was in the hospital.

_How did I get here? _she thought with a groan. She plopped down back on her pillow, rubbing her head. _Ow...I feel worse than that time I got hit straight on by that sumo wrestler guy when I was seven._

_You were hit by a sumo guy when we were seven? _a strange yet familiar voice said.

In shock, Tukiko sat up and looked around again. She saw Sasuke by another bed by hers. He was staring at her with an eyebrow raised. He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

_Jeez. And I thought that your adventures were weird already._

Tukiko was throughly shocked to see that he _was_ the one talking. But she was more shocked to see that his lips weren't moving at all and she could hear him. This was the only thought that went through her head.

_WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?_

_---_

REVIEW!!!!


	13. Beginning of training

Disclaimer: I don't want to own Naruto. Cause then I would get millions of fanmail that I do not want to handle with.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 12

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his twin. _Language, Tukiko. You know you were taught better._

_Screw what I was taught! _Tukiko thought, with shock. _How the hell can you hear me!? How the hell can I hear _you?!

_I don't know. _He shrugged, seeming like that this wasn't weird at all. _I've just been able to hear you ever since we had that dream we just had of when we were at the fair._

_You had the same dream too?!_ Tukiko blinked several times, not knowing how to handle all of this. First she hears her twin's thoughts and vice versa and _now_ they were sharing the same dreams? This was way too freaky for her.

_You got that right, _Sasuke thought with distaste. _This is way too weird._

_How did this even happen in the first place?_ she asked, tilting her head. _We weren't able to read each other's minds before we got that stupid...sealing..._ She smacked her forehead. _Duh! That's the side effects of the sealing and dividing!_

_What? The ability to read the other's mind or the dream sharing?_ He asked, sarcasm heavy in his thoughts.

_Actually, both. _She smiled. _The seal was first made to get the victim to get tempting thoughts that the user gives to the victim so that they could give in. Like Orochimaru promised me power so that I could protect you. _Tukiko rolled her eyes. _That idiot gave me a whole 'guilt' scene by showing Mother and Father dead and you crying near the bodies. He was saying how 'I should have never left you all alone and I could have done more to help'. What an idiot, though he was true. Anyways, since the seal was divided between the both of us and because we're twins, we have this mind link or something._

_What does us being twins have to do with mind reading? _Sasuke asked, with a scowl on his face.

_Duh, Sasuke. Twins are said to have the same wave length when it comes to the mind. That's why they always feel what the other is feeling or thinking what the other is thinking. Didn't you know that?_

He shrugged again. _Things like that don't matter to me._

Tukiko sighed. _To think I'm related to this idiot of a brother._

_I can still hear you, Tukiko,_ Sasuke thought with a glare sent her way. She merely ignored it.

Tukiko looked around the hospital room, seeing that they were in one of those long-term ones. Her eyes swept around the room and finally landed on the bedside table between both of their beds. On the wooden surface of the table, there was a note that lay next to both of their hitai-ates. In curiousity, Tukiko picked it up to see the handwriting of her sensei.

_Dear Sasuke and Tukiko,_

_As you know, the both of you are in the hospital recovering from the sealing. I know it was painful for you two but I suppose that you're fine now that you've woken up. That's good!_

_Anyway, while the both of you were sleeping, the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams have ended. They also matched up who would fight against who. I will tell you later who you are fighting but for now, I have something important to tell you. The both of you are to be trained by me during the one month we have to prepare for the finals. I have a special technique I want to teach you two that will help out in the finals._

_Once that the both of you have awakened, I want you to meet me at this location:_

There was a picture of a mountain somewhere on it.

_I'll be waiting._

_-Kakashi 8)_

_We have to go meet Kakashi there? _Tukiko asked, thinking about the location of where their sensei wanted to meet at. _How the hell are we getting there!? It's at the top of a freaking mountain!_

_It is?_ Sasuke got out of bed and walked over to Tukiko's. He grabbed the letter out of her hand and read it. Once he finished, he nodded. _We should get changed now so we can head over._

_Right._ Tukiko got out of bed and went over to the dresser where their clothes were held. It didn't really matter since they both wore the same clothing. Once they were done changing, they decided to get out of the hospital prior the window. If any of the nurses saw them leaving when they were supposed to be resting, they would surely drag them back. They climbed out and started to jump across building rooftops.

About an hour later, the two arrived at the top of the mountain. Tukiko scanned the area to see no one but them and a couple of rocks. She scowled, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

_Where the heck is Kakashi?_

He shrugged. _You know how he is. He's always late._

_Got that right,_ she thought with distaste. Tukiko sat on a rock. _So what do we do now?_

Sasuke leaned against a rock wall.

_We wait._

Tukiko groaned.

_Great._

And that's exactly what they did. They waited. For two hours.

During that time, Tukiko was on the verge of sleep and boredom. Sasuke was just blanking out. And because Tukiko was bored, she had restorted to singing in her head.

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_Everybody's nerves, Everybody's nerves_

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_And this is how it goes_

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_Everybody's nerves, Everybody's nerves_

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_And this is how it goes_

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_Everybody's nerves, Everybody's nerves_

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves_

_And this is how it goes_

Tukiko continued to sing this in her head, while wearing a stupid grin. Because of the fact that they could hear everything that was going through the other's head, Sasuke could hear _everything _Tukiko was thinking. And that resulted in him having that stupid song in his head. As she continued singing it, a twitch started to form on his eye. It had gotten so bad that he actually spoke aloud.

"Will you stop singing that stupid song in your head?" Sasuke growled out at him. "It's getting on my nerves."

Tukiko blinked and smirked. "It's getting on your nerves?" He nodded. "Then it's working!"

Sasuke's face blanked out at her words. Did she just say...? His eyes began to narrow at his twin.

"Are you singing that purposely?"

"Yup! I wanted to see if it really _did_ get on people's nerves," she chirped. "And it does!"

Sasuke growled and was about to move out of his position. He stopped when they both sensed a familiar chakra. They turned to the edge of the mountain. Kakashi leapt up into the air and landed on his feet. Seeing Sasuke and Tukiko, he lifted his hand in greeting.

"Yo."

"You're late Kakashi," they chimed together coldly.

"I know, I know. But I can make it up to the both of you."

Tukiko raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Kakashi smiled through his mask. "I'm going to teach the both of you a new technique. It is the only original technique in my array of jutsus. It will prove useful against the opponent one of you will be facing."

_Opponent?_ They both echoed in their thoughts. "Who?" they asked aloud.

His face fell grave, almost like he was dreading telling them.

"Subaku no Gaara."

Tukiko's eyes widened as she stood to her feet. "You mean that red headed kid with the killer intent so strong that he makes even the most advanced ninjas cry and wet their pants?" she gasped. "Dude, he's scary!"

"To put it to short, yes. Gaara is powerful, there is no doubt about it. During his fight with Rock Lee, he nearly killed him in the process with his sand."

When hearing this, Sasuke's brotherly instincts kicked in. He stepped in front of Tukiko with brotherly protection.

"Then there is no way in _hell_ I'm going to let Tukiko fight against that maniac if he nearly killed someone."

"Sasuke," Tukiko growled at him. She grabbed the back of his shirt roughly. "Knock it off! Stop acting so...so protective of me! I can very well talk care of myself!"

He whirled around and glared at her coldly, slapping away her hand. "No, you can't! You're my little sister and I _have_ to protect you! I don't want you to get hurt."

"Excuse me!? Who died and made you my protector?" Tukiko yelled at him. Her Sharingan eyes activated to show her intense anger at her brother at this point. "I can fucking take care of myself! I took care of myself during the second Exams. I've taken care of myself for the past _six years!_ You're the one who needs the protection, not me! And for your information, you are only _three minutes older!_ I'm not your little sister!"

Sasuke growled, his own Sharingan activating. "_I'm _the one who needs protection?! Who the hell was the one who had to protect you during that fair?! If I hadn't come along, you would have been kidnapped or worse, raped!"

"Why you-"

Kakashi stepped in between the two before it broke out into an all out fight.

"Now, now, you two. We don't need the two of you fighting during the whole time we're training."

"Yes, Kakashi," they begrudingly muttered. They glared at each other through the corner of their eyes.

He sighed. Great. It was bad enough handling Sasuke by himself. But now that he had his identical twin sister with him, it would get much worse. By the way Tukiko was stubborn just like her brothers and by usual Uchiha standards, this would be difficult to control the both of them.

Kakashi sighed again.

_This is going to be a _loooooooong _month._

_---_

Review like usual!


	14. Secret's out

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 14

That one month Kakashi spent training the Uchiha twins went by rather quickly. Although the two were currently angry with each other, they put up with each other in order to learn the jutsu that Kakashi would teach them. Though they _did_ tend to say annoying thoughts to bother the other twin. It did get in on their nerves but they ignored it.

Anyway, onto the jutsu that Kakashi promised them he would teach. It was a jutsu called the Chidori and he had invented it himself. He explained to them that it required them to build up their speed and you had to use the Sharingan. Otherwise, the jutsu would mess up because of the tunnel vision the jutsu required. (I don't really know. I'm guessing.) So before the two could even _learn_ the jutsu, they had to build up their speed. Tukiko didn't really need to work on her speed since she already worked it up when she was traveling. She wanted to learn the jutsu now but Kakashi wouldn't let her until Sasuke built his up first. She pouted at this but got over it and waited.

Also another reason why Kakashi wanted the two to build up their speed was because of the one disadvantage Gaara had: He was too slow. His sand reacted very slowly, making him unable to attack his opponent if they were really fast. That was how Rock Lee survived and fought through Gaara's sand barrier defense. If the two were extremely fast, Gaara would be unable to touch them.

So for the past month, the three did nothing but train, train, train. They took very little breaks and worked on the jutsu. Kakashi was like a slave driver with him telling Sasuke to keep training and telling Tukiko to stay patient with the jutsu. It was difficult to learn even thought it only required three hand seals. Tukiko got through the training and eventually got the jutsu.

Time flew by so fast that they realized that it was finally the day for the Finals to start.

Tukiko ran across the streets of Konoha, heading over to the stadium where the exams were being held. She was cursing at Kakashi as of this moment. After she had finished her training he said,

"_Can you go over to the exams early to check out Naruto's fight? I want you to support him as much as you can."_

She asked why she was the only going.

"_You mastered the jutsu early. I need to work with Sasuke more before we get there."_

_Stupid perverted man!_ Tukiko cursed out, dodging market stands and multiple people. _He made me late on purpose! He told me when we had five minutes to be there!_

Right now, she really wanted to torture that man. She turned a corner and almost laughed with relief when seeing the entrance to the stadium was in sight.

"I'm going to make it!" Tukiko was happy that she wasn't going to be as late as she thought she would be. She ran almost at top speed towards the entrance. So fast that the ninjas at the front barely took note of her until she whipped past them. They recognized her by her raven hair.

"Hey! You're late!" One of them yelled at her, laughing.

"I know, I'm sorry!"She yelled over her shoulder. Running down the hallway, she picked up the pace as she neared the exit that would lead out to the field. Tukiko ran outside quickly. She ignored the large crowd that had gathered to witness this exam and ran over to where the procter was standing in front of the genins that passed. Everyone turned to her as she skid to a halt right next to Naruto. She slightly bended over, her hands on her knees while her lungs heaved for air. "Sorry...I'm late," she panted out. "Kakashi...made me...late."

The proctor, who had a senbon needle in his mouth, blinked at her. "Which Uchiha are you?"

"It's obviously the teme's sister," Naruto commented. He eyed Tukiko's clothing carefully and nodded. "The teme may act like a girl sometimes but he would _never_ wear that!"

Once Tukiko caught her breath, she straightened up and glared at him, tugging down at the tanktop that Kakashi forced her to wear.

"Shut up before I kill you."

Personally, she didn't like the way Kakashi forced her into that. Apparently, he wasn't alright with Tukiko dressing like a boy alot. Something about "Feminine dignity" or something like that. So last night, he had apparently stolen her boy clothes and replaced them with ones that girls normally wore. Tukiko argued that she wanted her other clothes back but this is what Kakashi said to her.

"Tukiko, if you are tired of people mistaking you for Sasuke or as a boy, then you_ have_ to wear feminine clothes! It doesn't matter if boy clothes are more comfortable. I believe that it is wrong for a beautiful girl like you to be mistaken for a boy all the time. That is why you must wear these during the finals."

Both Sasuke and Tukiko stared weirdly at Kakashi when he said this. In their minds, they said,

_Is...Is he trying to make Tukiko (me) like a girl because he cares? Or because he thinks that she (I) might be hot one day?_

They guessed the second one when he showed Tukiko the clothes she was wearing.

Kakashi had forced Tukiko to wear a navy blue tank top with an actual bra on, the Uchiha symbol on the back, and a semi short white skirt with black skin tight shorts underneath. On her arms were Sasuke's armwarmers since her brother would be wearing a different outfit as well. She also had bandages wrapping around her calfs and all the way down to her sandals. Of course, her ninja equipment was still on. Kakashi even made Tukiko wear her hitai-ate as a headband like Sakura did. She still had her usual bracelet on but around her neck was the Uchiha choker she had along with Sasuke. All of these together truly made her look like a girl.

Naruto laughed. "But you do look cute in that, Tukiko-chan!"

Tukiko blushed and smiled. "I don't know whether to be insulted by that or happy on that. I guess I'll settle for the second this time."

The procter (Is his name Genma? I think it is) cleared his throat, getting Tukiko and Naruto back to attention.

"As I was saying before, the rules are the same before even if the arena is different," he explained. "You fight until one dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine the fight over, I'll step in and stop the fight. Got it?" They all nodded. "All right. The match is between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga. Those two stay here while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

All of them except for Naruto and Neji started to walk up to the waiting room. Tukiko passed by Neji and saw the smirk on his face as she passed by. She replied with a glare and followed Shikamaru up. When they arrived at the waiting room, she stood next to him as they stared down at the arena below.

Tukiko bit her lip, watching as Genma declared the match to begin. She wondered how strong Neji was. Word had it he tried to kill Hinata. This just made her sad, thinking back to her and Sasuke's sixth birthday. Back then, she noticed that Neji wasn't as hostile towards Hinata when they came over. But now...

_What could have happened that made Neji be so...so cruel? Aren't they family?_

She snapped out of it as Neji started to eliminate Naruto's clones as they attacked. He was getting rid of them easily. Tukiko squinted and could see that he was using the Byakugan. She knew that Naruto might not even stand a chance if he had his kekke genkai activated. She started to watch as Neji started to say that everything is decided for people at birth. He said to Naruto that he wasn't destined to be Hokage because he wasn't born into it.

Tukiko growled under her breath. _What a load of bullshit! He's so fate obsessed! Father _had_ to choose a freak for my husband!_ She sneered at the thought of having him for a husband. Hell! She sneered at the word itself!

Shikamaru noticed her making a face and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She snapped out of it and blinked. Then she smiled at him. "No, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about!"

He gave her a doubtful look before turning back to the match and muttering, "Troublesome girl."

Tukiko shook her head at him and returned back to the match. She was getting excited by this match. She gasped when Naruto was hit and cheered when he landed a punch on the Hyuga. But then she became shocked when Neji used the Kaiten on Naruto then used one of the main Hyuga branch jutsus on him. Naruto landed on the ground, struggling to get up through the pain that was in his body. She winced as he stood to his feet, glaring at Neji.

"Why...Why did you bring down Hinata during your match when she was trying so hard!" he demanded.

Neji glared back. "That's none of your business."

"Insulting Hinata, declaring she already lost...Main family, branch family! I don't know what happened but I will never forgive people who call others losers!"

Tukiko's grip on the rail tightened. She knew about the Hyuga family's history, from when she saw a Hyuga come over to their compound. She asked Itachi about why the person seemed so sad and Itachi told her the history though he made her swear not to say anything. She hated what happened.

Neji glared at Naruto before smirking. "Fine. If you're going to go that far, I will tell...The Hyuga's destiny of hatred."

Tukiko listened with distaste as Neji explained that all branch members of the family had a curse seal that represented a bird in a cage. It sealed their destinies of being tied down to the clan. Neji even removed his hitai-ate and showed to everyone the X on his forehead. She hated to listen to this but she couldn't stop. It was like she had to know. Neji continued and told the story of how his own father had the mark as well and had to die because Hinata's father, Hiashi, killed a Kumo ninja for trying to kidnap his daughter. It was around that time when they were making a treaty with Kumo and the country demanded Hiashi's death. Instead, the main family had taken Hiashi's own twin brother, who was Neji's own father, killed him and gave the body to the Kumo ninja. Kumo was after the Hyuga secrets of the Byakugan but failed when seeing that the seal on Neji's father's forehead sealed off the Byakugan after death. Then came the horrible part that shocked even Tukiko.

"I cannot escape my destiny unless I were to die," Neji was saying. "That means I, as well as Tukiko, may not be able to escape our destiny of being married. But she was so foolish to think that running away would help her escape her fate."

There were gasps all over the audience. Shikamaru turned to Tukiko with a raised eyebrow. Tukiko was turning red, her eyes squeezed shut and her hold on the rail tightened til her knuckles were white.

"Is what Neji saying true? About that marriage?" Shikamaru asked.

He was more than shocked to see tears leak out of her eyes. But they were not of sadness. No. They were of rage.

Tukiko reopened her eyes, her Sharingan blazing and glaring down at the arena at Neji.

"Neji Hyuga! Don't you _dare_ say that I can't escape that damn marriage contract! I _will_ find a way out of it!!! I refuse to get married to an asshole like you!!!"

Everyone stared up at Tukiko at her outburst and confirmed what Neji was saying was true. Now they knew that one of the last Uchihas was engaged to the Hyuga family.

Tukiko couldn't take all of the stares anymore. She turned around and ran into the hallway. She made sure to be deep inside so that no one could see her. When she made sure no one was there, she collasped onto the ground. Her back to the wall, she pulled her knees to her chest, burying her head into her arms. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

She hated that Neji could be right. That they would end up getting married no matter what happened. Tukiko may have been a kunoichi now but that still meant she had to marry that asshole. It was as if all of her training was for naught. She would end up being a housewife either way.

It was as if she could not escape her destiny, just as Neji said.

---

Haha! Neji finally told everyone of his and Tukiko's engagement! How will everyone else take this? What will happen to Tukiko now that Hiashi knows she's back!? You have to review to find out!

Review plzz!!!


	15. Being first to fight

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto!

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 15

Tukiko didn't know how long she sat there crying. It felt like years to her. It was hard for her, knowing that she might never be able to escape her fate. Even if she tried really hard, she might never be able to escape that stupid marrige. But why? Why did she have to get married? Tukiko didn't want to get married! She already found someone she loved and she promised him that she would try to get out of the engagement set up for her. If she was out of the engagement, she would be able to be with him forever, never having to worry about getting married to someone she didn't love.

_Now I'll never be able to marry him instead of Neji! I love _him_, not that fate obsessed freak! _Tukiko sobbed, new tears falling as she thought of all chances of her marrying her love were gone. She would never able to see that mischievous smile he used when he was in battle ever again if she was going to become a housewife for some regal clan. Never again could she hear the words "I love you" from him. It sucked that she would never see him again!

"Tukiko-chan?" said the voice of Naruto.

Tukiko glanced up from her position. She stared at Naruto, hovering near her, through her blurry vision as he frowned at her tears. She realized that she probably looked horrible right now, crying in front of her brother's rival/best friend. Wiping away her tears, she noticed how beat up Naruto was and gave a weak laugh.

"It looks like you got hit by a tornado, Naruto." She finally noticed that he was here and blinked. "Did...Did you win your match?"

Naruto nodded, giving a weak grin. "Yeah, I won. I beat Neji!"

"Congrats!" congratulated Tukiko. "Wish I could've seen that."

"Yeah..." Naruto frowned, sitting beside her, his back to the wall. He stared as Tukiko put her chin on top of her knees, her tear stained face shining at the far away light from the end of the hallway. "Tukiko-chan, is it true about what Neji said? About...you getting married to him?"

"I told the idiot to keep his fat mouth shut," she muttered darkly. Then a depressed sigh left her lips. "Yes, its true. I'm engaged to Neji. My father and his uncle made this stupid engagement when I was just born so that we could untie our clans or something. I think they wanted grandchildren who could possess either the Sharingan or the Byakugan or even both. I didn't know about the engagement and neither did Neji until the Hyuga's came to Sasuke and I's sixth birthday party. The moment I heard that, I ran away from the party and cried in a forest near my home. Then when it grew dark, I decided to run away. And that's what I did. I packed as many things as I could and ran while everyone else was at the party." New tears formed in her eyes.

"But why did you run? Why didn't you just stay in the village?" he asked, sounding upset with her and confused at the same time. "You could have trained to be a kunoichi along with Sasuke instead of just running! And he would have helped you figure out what to do! So why?"

"You don't get it Naruto!" Tukiko glared at Naruto, tears falling over. Her whole form was shaking by then. "You just don't get it, do you!? I could _never_ train to be a kunoichi if I stayed in Konoha! My parents forbid it for me to be a ninja or even learn any of the clan jutsus. Instead, they made me train how to become the perfect housewife for Neji. All my life I was learning all of these house chores like cooking and cleaning and how to speak and etiquette and stuff. I didn't know why until I saw I was engaged to Neji. I knew that I could never be a ninja if I stayed in Konoha! And Sasuke wasn't much help either! My brothers told me I had to endure the marriage and just do it! I couldn't take no for an answer so I had to run. Why do you think I was so upset when I saw the Academy and learned that I was the only one not to train along with my brother? Why do you think I avoided being seen from Neji? And why I shouted for him to shut up about the engagement and why I had to speak with Hinata privately during the first exam? I had to run if I wanted to achieve my dream!" She buried her head back into her arms, sobbing.

Silence followed after Tukiko's outburst.

Tukiko didn't care that she was rather rude to shout at Naruto like that. Her housewife/noble training, which stuck with her like superglue, told her that she should not have yelled at him. Even if he didn't know, it was rather rude of her to do so. Sometimes she wondered why her etiqutte stuck with her after all these years. It was rather annoying to have it with her.

Suddenly, Tukiko felt a pair of arms around her. She jumped in surprise and lifted up her head to see Naruto was the one hugging her. She could not see his face from her position. It was strange that Naruto was hugging her but it was even stranger that she was allowing it. She never liked people except for Sasuke touching her. This was strange.

"Tukiko-chan, I'm sorry. I didn't know. But I promise you this-" Naruto turned his head to face her and Tukiko could see the fire in his eyes. "I _will_ help you find a way out of that engagement. Sasuke-teme may not have been a big help but I wll! I'll help you stay with your dream to being a kunoichi!"

"Y-You promise?" she sniffled, wiping away her tears.

He nodded and grinned. "I never go back on my words. That's my nindo!"

Tukiko laughed, nodding. "Thanks Naruto. I hope you are a better help than my brothers."

"Don't worry! I will be!"

After that, Naruto and Tukiko went back to the waiting area where Shikamaru and everyone else was waiting. Shikamaru turned to them.

"Where have you guys been? They've been talking about the next match for a while."

"What do you mean?" Tukiko asked, leaning on the rail. "The next match is between..." Then she realized that the next match was Sasuke vs. Gaara. There was no sign of Sasuke yet so... She gasped. "They're not going to disqualify Sasuke, are they?!"

"That's the rules, isn't it? If he's not here they will disqualify him," Shikamaru told her. "Where _is_ that troublesome brother of yours?"

"He's late, that stupid-"

_Tukiko, don't even finish that thought,_ Sasuke replied from where he was training. Even though they were far away from each other, they could somewhat still hear each other's thoughts. It was hard to explain.

_You idiot! Hurry up your stupid training! You're going to get disqualified!_ Tukiko reprimended him.

_Does it look like its my fault Kakashi is always late to things!? I can't control what that man does!_

_Then get your ass here!_

Sasuke mentally groaned. _I won't make it there in time. Try stalling!_

Tukiko's eyes widened. How the hell was she going to stall?

_Look, I really don't want to do this but ask them to switch our placings. You're going to have to fight Gaara first._

_What?!_ She couldn't believe what her brother was suggesting. _I'm going to have to fight that psycho first!? Are you nuts!?_

_Well, its all I can think of if I want to get there on time! I just get to fight whoever wins. Make sure to win and don't die, got it?_

_Yes Mom._ Tukiko rolled her eyes. Did her brother have to sound like their mother? She swore that he was going to be like her someday and not her.

A hand waved in front of Tukiko's face, bringing Tukiko back to reality. She saw that it was Naruto. Scowling, she slapped away his hand. "Stop that!"

"Sorry but where's Sasuke?" he asked. "He's going to come, right?"

"Of course! But he's going to be late."

The Hokage interuppted their conversation. They all turned to him for his final decision.

"As the rules state, Sasuke will be disqualified."

"Wait a second!" Tukiko yelled out for everyone to hear her. She looked down at the proctor. "Is it alright if...you switch Sasuke and mine's placement? Sasuke is going to be late and I don't think the crowd would like waiting. I don't want Sasuke to be disqualified either."

"I don't know," the proctor frowned. "It all depends on what Hokage-sama wishes."

Tukiko glanced up to where the Hokage was sitting next to the Kazekage. He stared at her as she brought her hands together in a pleading motion and mouthing, "Please?" For added effect, she gave a puppy dog pout. The Hokage sighed, giving in.

"Alright. The first match will be between Tukiko Uchiha and Gaara of the Desert. Whoever wins from that must face Sasuke Uchiha afterwards, should he arrive."

The crowd cheered at the thought: one of the Uchiha twins was going to fight against Gaara. They were actally waiting to watch Sasuke fight against him but the thought of one of the missing Uchihas, who they have not seen in six years, fighting got them excited.

Tukiko felt her heart pounding wildly against her ribcage like it was trying to escape. Truth be told, she was actually afraid to fight against Gaara first. After he had appeared to their training session with Kakashi one day, she felt the killing intent and it just freaked her out. It took awhile for her to get back to training. She took a glance over at Gaara a few feet away from her. Gaara met her gaze and glared at her. She replied back with her own glare but was shaking within.

_Sasuke, I am _so_ going to kill you if you ever get here,_ she thought. She was not really ready to fight this guy but if she wanted her brother to continue... She jumped yet again when Shikamaru patted her on the back.

"Well, good luck," he said to her in a bored tone. In his voice, Tukiko could hear concern and fear in there. "You're going to need it."

"I-I'll be fine!" Tukiko gave a weak grin. "I'm going to kick his ass in time to beat my brother's if he ever gets here."

"No, really Tukiko. You're going to need it. That guy has this strange feeling."

"Yeah. Be careful out there, okay?" Naruto whispered over to her so that Gaara wouldn't hear. "That guy is bad news."

She gulped and nodded. "S-Sure." Taking a deep breath, she leapt down from the railing and down to the arena instead of taking the stairs. She landed on the ground in a crouch. Then she walked over to the proctor trying hard not to shake. This match was really scaring her and she hoped that she wouldn't mess up. One move and she could get killed.

Tukiko took a deep breath to calm her nerves. They were acting up a bit. Her heart rate went down a bit and didn't go back up as Gaara finally made it over to them. She narrowed her eyes at Gaara, trying to show no fear, as Gaara stared at her eyes with no emotions except for the very distinct ones of bloodlust. She expected that. The guy was crazy after all.

_Sasuke, if I die here, I'll blame everything on you and won't even involve you in my will. I'll even say, "And Sasuke is a bastard for making me stall for him which ultimately led to my death at the hands of Gaara! He gets nothing except the vow to return from the dead and murder him in his time of need."_

_Stop being melodramatic. You're not going to die,_ Sasuke thought, rolling his eyes. _Just make sure to use Kakashi's training wisely._

_Right!_

"Alright. The rules for this match will be the same as the preliminaries," Genma told them. "The match goes until someone dies or I stop the match. But that depends on my decision and mine alone. Understand?" The two nodded. "Begin!" He leapt back so that he wouldn't get attacked in the process.

After he was gone, sand started to float out of the gourd on Gaara's back. Tukiko jumped back, getting some room between them. She eyed the sand carefully.

_Sand...That's the sand that he uses?_

Gaara paused, gripping his head with one hand. It seemed like he was in pain. "Don't...get so angry," he muttered to himself. "Mother..."

_What the hell is he talking about?_ Tukiko wondered. Who was Gaara talking about.

"I fed you some nasty blood earlier. I'm sorry...But this time..." He grinned manaically at Tukiko, sending shivers down her spine. "It will be delicious." Gaara groaned and seemed to snap out of it. Tukiko just wondered what the hell was up with him. He glared at her with that same glare and ordered, "Come."

Tukiko couldn't help but smirk.

"If you insist!"

She jumped into the air, picking out some kunai out of her pouch and threw them at Gaara. His sand suddenly formed in front of him and the kunai was stopped, held in the hands of a clone. She landed on the ground and rushed at him. The sand lunged at her but she sidestepped to the side, throwing more kunai at him. The sand did the same thing, throwing the kunai that it caught earlier from her. Tukiko rushed at the clone, aiming a punch on it. Her punch landed but now the sand started to trap her fist. To free her hand, she used a roundhouse kick to the head to make the sand crumble. Her hand free, she rushed at Gaara again. The sand shield came up in front of him. She smirked.

"Nice try!" Tukiko moved and vanished from his sight, only to appear again behind him. Gaara couldn't react before she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying a few feet away from her. He landed on the ground, sitting up. Right now, Tukiko was thankful for Kakashi teaching her and Sasuke a bit of Lee's taijutsu. It really saved her life. She noticed that there was a small crack on Gaara's neck when she realized it. "That's your sand armor, huh?" She thought that was a joke but she knew she shouldn't underestimate him. She got into a stance. "Bring it or is that the best you have?"

Gaara didn't respond. Tukiko grew impatient.

"You know what? I'm just going to go first! You know the saying, 'Ladies' first!'"

So Tukiko ran at him at a fast pace. She was just a blur as she launched herself at Gaara. The sand rose up and looked ready to defend but she changed course, running around the sand and into an opening. She came into the opening and jumped into the air to give a flying kick to the face. Gaara skidded back a couple of feet from the force of it. He stood there, not knowing what happened.

"Is that all?" Tukiko taunted. She felt a bit weird showing her speed off like this. She knew that she specialized in speed and that meant she was super light. She also felt a bit weird without any of her usual weights on. Kakashi made her take them off for the sake of this match. That was why she was a bit lighter than she would usally be. That annoyed her to no end. But at least she didn't have to use much stamina for running at that speed, unlike her brother. Her eyes landed on the sand armor that Gaara was wearing. It was also annoying her to no end.

_God, I need to take that off if I want to do some real damage._

Tukiko didn't even wait for Gaara to respond before she vanished from her spot. Gaara looked wildly around for Tukiko. His sand rose up in expectantcy. He failed to notice that Tukiko had slid under it and came in to punch Gaara. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Tukiko vanished yet again and appeared at another angle to kick him in the chest. The sand was too slow as she weaved in and out to land as many kicks and punches on Gaara's being as possible. As she did this, she began to grow tired and decided to give one last hit before escaping the cluthes of the sand. She appeared in front of Gaara and did a backflip. Her feet kicked Gaara in the chin and the force made him rise into the air. She landed on her feet and back stepped as he landed on the ground with a thud.

She took a couple of breaths to calm down her breathing. She was panting quite a bit but not as much as Gaara. She still felt fine. A bit tired but fine nonetheless. Again, she thanked Kakashi for making them learn a bit of taijutsu for this match.

Gaara stood to his feet, glaring at her. He brought his hands into a seal and the sand rose around him. It gathered around him and surrounded him like a dome. It started to envelop him until his body wasn't seen anymore and only his eye was seen through the shrinking hole. She activated her Sharingan. Tukiko took this chance to run at him before the hole shrunk. She gave out a cry as she used her fist to punch at the hole but gasped. The sand at the front spiked in front of her, nearly missing her face by a few inches. Her fist didn't even make it and only hit the hard sand wall. It stung a bit and Tukiko knew she was in trouble. She leapt back, her eyes wide at the sand ball. She looked at the damage of her body and saw that her knuckles were red with blood and the spikes nicked her in a few places such as her knees. Her blood dripped down to the bandages on her calfs, staining them red.

_What the? Don't tell me he made the sand even harder! I'll never get through that thing if he used _all_ of his sand just to sheild himself. What to do..._

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw that a sand eye materialized near the sand ball. She frowned, putting a hand on her hip. She just knew that if she attacked, the sand would react and attack her. Even if she could land a hit, it wasn't like it was going to do anything with the hard density of the sand. This was going to be tough. She chewed on her bottom lip, her forehead crinkling in thought. Plus there was something bothering her. If Gaara had gone to all this trouble to making a sand ball so dense, it wouldn't do any damage, he must have been doing something in there. It had to be powerful if he didn't want to be disturbed. The question was, what is that jutsu he's going to do? That's what was worrying her.

Tukiko sighed. "Guess there's no other choice. If I want to get through that stupid thing, I have to use _that._"

She jumped a couple more feet back until her back was against the arena wall. That was probably enough distance for her. Gritting her teeth, she started to perform four handseals. At the final one, she held her right arm straight, using her left hand to steady it. Blue electricity started to spark in her hand, creating a loud chirping sound in her ears. She raised her head and started to run towards the sand ball. She kept her focus on the ball as the jutsu made a trail behind her. Picking up her speed near the ball, she dodged any of the sand spikes and raised her jutsu hand and jabbed into the ball. Her hand peirced into the ball as she yelled,

"CHIDORI!!"

---

Whoo! Tukiko got to fight Gaara. Please don't blame me if it looks similar to Sasuke's fight (again) but I have horrible imagination when it comes to fights. I did change things a bit but again, I apologize if it looks like Sasuke's fight. I really suck at fights. Oh! And I was really happy with my reviews so I decided to give another chapter this week! Your welcome!

Please review!!!! They make me happier and inspire me to write! I kinda left a cliff hanger too but I felt the chapter being too long. If you want to know what happens, review!

On a random note, has anyone seen the new harry potter movie yet? I was really disappointed by the movie. It was all about relationships more than the issue with Voldemort (A.K.A. Orochimaru's almost twin brother but his weaker half. They both love snakes don't they?)! Guess it was expected since it was PG instead of the usual PG-13. I hope the last one is PG-13 because the PG just ruined the movie for me. There was no action either!

That's all! Go press the review button now!


	16. The chase

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 16

Her hand pierced into the ball, her hand connecting into something hard and warm. Almost immidiately, her hand felt something warm and wet underneath. Tukiko gasped, finding that the wetness was blood. It wasn't her blood. No. It was Gaara's.

"It's my blood!!!!!" Gaara screamed in horror. It hurt Tukiko. It seemed like he had never seen his own blood before. Although Gaara was her opponent, she didn't like the fact that he made him scream because of seeing his own blood.

Something started to slither around Tukiko's arm in the ball. She shivered and tried to wretch her hand out of the ball but couldn't. For some reason, she felt that she had to get her arm out before something happened to it. Her arm wriggled around, Tukiko gritting her teeth in all attempts to get it out. She even pushed her other hand onto the ball to get it out. A grip was on her arm, sending waves of fear in her.

"Let go!" Tukiko had to send her chakra to her hand again. Electricity sounded again and a scream was heard. She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't bare hearing him in pain. The pain Gaara was feeling made it possible for Tukiko to finally get her arm moving back out. She used all her strength to get her arm out. Halfway out, she gasped as something was latched onto her arm. It was something tan and had purple lines running all over it. She wretched her arm out of its hold and leapt back. Her wide eyes kept staring at the thing as it retreated into its hole. Tukiko held her arm in pain. "What the hell was that!?"

Using her Sharingan, Tukiko peered into the hole to see what was in there. Her heart pounded against her ears and her breathing nearly stopped. Something was slithering inside of that ball. Shivers wracked her body as her eyes met a yellow eye that looked sinister and craved for blood. The eye disappeared, leaving Tukiko shaken.

_What...What was that?..._ Her breathing returned. Her body was stuck on spot as she remembered that eye. _I have a horrible feeling about that. It wasn't normal, that's for sure._

Suddenly, the ball started to crack from the hole and started to dissolve. Tukiko watched as the sand fell and Gaara emerged from the sand. He was standing, holding the place where Tukiko hit him with blood flowing down his hand. His eyes were wide with shock and he was panting. She was shocked at the look in his eyes.

_What's going on? Those weren't his eyes...Then what was that freaky thing that _was_ looking at me?!_

Tukiko was brought out of her thoughts when hearing a small explosion behind her. Turning, she saw that smoke rose from the place the Kages were supposed to be watching from. She stood to her feet, not knowing what was happening. Something leapt out of the smoke to reveal that it was the Kazekage holding the Hokage in his hold. They landed on the top roof. The Kazekage took out a kunai and placed it on the throat of the Hokage. The ANBU rushed over seeing the village leader in danger. They tried to lung at the Kazekage but then a four walled barrier surrounded them. One ANBU hit the wall and flames erupted on him, killing him. The Hokage was helpless.

_Oh, no! Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke, answer me!_ Tukiko thought feverently. She knew what was going on. They were being attacked! Ambushed by the Oto ninjas!

_Tukiko? What's wrong?_

_Tell Kakashi to get over here _now!_ I think the village is being attacked and the Hokage is in danger! We need help!_

_What?_ Sasuke asked in shock. From where he was, he had stopped his training. Kakashi was wondering why he stopped. _How did-Never mind. I'll ask later. I'll tell Kakashi and be right there._

_Hurry! Our home is in trouble!_

Tukiko ended their communication and didn't speak to Sasuke as she saw Temari and Kankuro land next to Gaara. They were speaking to him, trying to convince him to abandon his desire to kill Tukiko to get the plan over with. A Suna jonin appeared in front of them, telling them to get moving. Genma appeared in front of her, facing them.

"What's going on? Why is this happening?" Tukiko asked, confused by all of this.

"It appears Suna and Oto have allied to attack the village," he said.

"No way..."

The Suna jonin, who were possibly Gaara's teacher, ordered them to go. Temari and Kankuro obeyed. Kankuro put Gaara's arm around his shoulder and the two started to run with their injured brother.

"Is the host of this party Orochimaru?" Genma demanded from the jonin.

The suna jonin smirked. "Who knows? Let's get started and join the fun."

"Orochimaru!?" Tukiko gasped. She knew that Orochimaru was evil but to attack the village? She realized this was probably why he was in the village. "But why-"

"Sorry, Uchiha-san, but the exams are over. You go and pursue Gaara and the others," Genma ordered her. Tukiko tensed in surprise. "You're already a fine shinobi so you should help out."

Tukiko nodded. She would do anything to help protect her home. She dashed out and ran to follow Temari and Kankuro. She leapt over the wall of the arena and followed them. With her speed, she was able to try to catch up to them. She followed them into the forests of Konoha, jumping from branch to branch. After awhile, she finally caught up to them, their figures finally showing. She hurried her pace and leapt in front of them, landing nimbly on a branch. She smiled innocently at the shocked faces of the two elder ninjas.

"Did you think I would let you three just run away during the middle of a battle? It's rather rude to do so," Tukiko said, scolding them on their manners.

"Tch. Tukiko Uchiha," Temari muttered. She turned to her brother. "Kankuro, take Gaara and get out of here. I'll distract her."

"Oh no you won't!" Tukiko extracted a few kunai and threw them at Kankuro. Temari retailitated by using her own kunai. Tukiko ran at them instead, taking out another kunai, and was about to jump at them when Temari jumped in, using a kunai of her own to block the attack. Tukiko jumped back, landing on the branch opposite of them. Temari turned to her brother.

"Go! Get out!"

Kankuro nodded and ran away, jumping at the branches.

"You're not getting away so easily!" Tukiko was about to follow them but Temari appeared in her path. "Get out of the way!"

"Never!" Temari grabbed onto the object on her back and opened it to reveal that it was a fan. She swung the fan in Tukiko's direction, making her fly back. Tukiko had to flip in midair to land on a branch correctly.

_Shit. I have to fight her in order to get to Gaara._ Tukiko gritted her teeth. She didn't want to fight Temari but it looked like she had to. But she had to be careful not to use all of her chakra. She still had to fight Gaara, after all. Temari glared at her, thinking the same thing.

The two moved at the same time. Tukiko leapt into the air to throw kunai at Temari but she used her fan to repel them. Tukiko landed on another branch as Temari leapt up to the one opposite of her. Tukiko smirked as Temari shouted and waved her fan. "Wind scythe jutsu!" Tukiko leapt up to dodge the attack. It sliced the tree that she was previously on so there was no way she could go near that tree again. She had to leap from tree to tree as Temari continuously used her jutsu. She jumped onto another branch just as Temari shouted a different jutsu name.

"Sandstorm jutsu!"

This time, Tukiko didn't have enough time to dodge. Her hands came together in a seal just as the wind jutsu hit her. Temari smirked as Tukiko's body hit the trunk of a tree but it dropped when seeing the body poof to reveal a log. She gasped. "A substitution jutsu!" She looked around for a sign of Tukiko. Her head had turned to the side just as a yell came out.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

Tukiko leapt out from the hiding spot of the leaves, fire coming out of her mouth and aimed at Temari. Temari heard the yell and swung her fan, dispelling the fire. Tukiko landed on another tree branch. Her eyes widened as her foot slipped on some sand and found herself falling. Temari smirked, leaping down.

"Got you!" She threw kunai at Tukiko but failed to see that she was making hand seals. Tukiko cried out as the kunai hit her body. Temari landed and glanced up to see Tukiko's body fall but gasped when seeing another log fall to the ground. She gritted her teeth, looking wildly around her. "Stop hiding! What, are you afraid that I'll beat you?"

"Think again." Temari looked up to see Tukiko leaning against a tree branch, waving with a grin on her face. She held up three fingers and ticked them off as she counted down. "Three...two...and one..."

There was a loud explosion right near Temari. She cried out as the blast sent her skidding across the forest floor, injured. She struggled to sit up. Tukiko jumped onto another branch, staring apologettically at her.

"I'm sorry, Temari but it had to be done. And I'm sorry that I have to beat your brother to protect the village. I don't want to but I have to."

Tukiko jumped through the trees again, leaving Temari behind to catch up to Kankuro.

She jumped through the branches, chasing after Kankuro. She bit her lip at the thought of what she said to Temari. She told her that she was going to hurt her brother. Was she really going to do that? Tukiko never sympatheized with people but this time she did. Temari and Kankuro were just trying to help out their brother and she was chasing them to get to him. She was even kicking their butts just to get to that. She understood what they were doing. They just wanted to get their brother away from all of this. If she and Itachi were them and trying to help out Sasuke, she would do the same thing. But...Gaara was crazy. He had some unknown power that could possibly kill them. If he was going to destroy the village, she would have to do this.

Tukiko finally caught up to them, landing on the branch in front of them. She panted, a bit winded from all of this running.

"Are you done running?" she asked them.

"Who says I was running?" Kankuro shot back. "I'll take you on. But you'll regret it."

"Wait!" yelled the voice of Temari. She jumped down next to Kankuro. He sighed in relief.

"So there you are. I was worried there for a second. When she appeared and you weren't, I thought she must have finished you."

"She didn't but she could have. I don't know why she let you go." Temari glared at Tukiko. "What did you mean back there? When you said that you were sorry? And that you were sorry that you were going to hurt Gaara to protect your village? What did you mean?"

"I said what I said," Tukiko said, frowning. "I really don't want to hurt Gaara more than he already is. I'm not a usually violent person but I would be if my family and home were in danger."

"Why would you care about Gaara? You've only known him for a short amount of time!"

"I know that but...I just don't like hurting people." Tukiko glared at them. "And I should say the same about you! I know you're Gaara's siblings but do you know him at all? I saw that thing or whatever was in that ball!" The two tensed up at the mention of it. "Are you afraid of Gaara because of that thing? I saw the way you two tense up like when we encountered each other before the exams started. You're his siblings! Why are you even afraid of your little brother?"

"You don't know anything!" Kankuro shouted. "You don't even know about that _thing!"_ He set down Gaara on the branch and jumped to the branch in front of him. He took off the thing on his back as he did so spoke to Temari. "Go and take Gaara out of here."

"No! I'll do it!" she argued.

"Look at yourself, Temari. You're worn out and wouldn't stand a chance against this girl. Besides," he smirked. "You'll only get in my way."

Temari glanced at Tukiko and Kankuro before sighing. She picked up Gaara and ran away.

_Fuck!_ Tukiko was tired of this stupid cat and mouse game. It was getting annoying. And now she had to handle Kankuro before she could get to Gaara.

"It's time you fought with me, Uchiha. I usually don't fight against girls but I'll make an exception with you."

"I really don't want to fight you," she sighed. "But if I must-"

"Hold on," said another voice. Tukiko looked up to see Shino standing there cooly. "I want to fight him first."

Kankuro scowled. "What do you want?"

"Shino! How in the world did you find us?" Tukiko asked, relieved to have him there.

"I planted a beetle on you as you left the arena. A female one." He pointed at Tukiko's tanktop and she looked down to see a small beetle on the strap. "They give off a strong scent, though you can't smell it but the male of that species can. He would follow her and he led me straight here. Tukiko, you're after Gaara right? You should go after him since you never got to finish your match. I have some unfinished business with Kankuro since we never got to ours yet. Go."

"Are you sure?"

"Just give me ten minutes and I'll check on you to make sure you're alright."

"Well...Alright, if you insist. But I'll probably be done by the time you get there. Thanks for this, Shino-kun!" Tukiko smiled at him before leaping away to chase after Gaara again. She wished Shino luck just in case anything were to happen. He might need it.

Tukiko ran, leaping through the trees. She eventually caught up to Temari and Gaara because they stopped. When landing on the branch behind them, she was shocked to see Gaara punch his sister into a tree, knocking her out. At that action, she growled.

"What the hell!? How could you do that to Temari? She was just trying to help you!" She glared down at him, fire burning behind them. "I have no idea what the hell your plans are but I'll do everything it takes to stop them! Plus...I'm curious to see if its true or not."

Gaara groaned and held his head in pain. And now that she looked clearly, Tukiko could see the cracks in his face. It began to crack more as Gaara moaned from the pain.

"No, Gaara! Remember the mission!" Temari pleaded.

"You, your brother, and I are all alike, Uchiha," Gaara continued, ignoring her. "You have friends unlike me but that isn't what makes you strong. It's your purpose that does it. We're very alike."

Tukiko knew that he was referring to what happened during their month of training. Gaara had suddenly showed up as she and Sasuke were training. Kakashi had sensed him by his killer intent. Gaara came out, asking why they were looking for power. At that time, Tukiko became worried as an image of their older brother passed through Sasuke's mind. She already knew he was going to kill Itachi but it seemed too good to be true. She forgot about that as Gaara told them that all three of them were alike. But Tukiko disagreed. She was nothing like Gaara and neither was Sasuke. He only killed for fun. They did it for a goal.

"Once I've killed you, I will have destroyed those ambitions. Onlly then I can survive. Only then I can feel alive!" He stopped, more cracks on his face and started to scream. Tukiko gasped as Gaara fell to his knees, clutching his head. He screamed loudly. Then he lifted up his head and only then was Tukiko both right and horrorifed. Gaara's left side of his body had completely morphed into that of his monster's. No. A demon. He growled at Tukiko, the bloodlust clear in his eyes. "Let me feel it!"

"Damn. It is him..." Tukiko gritted her teeth. "Gaara is a Jinchurriki."

A Jinchuuriki. A living prison for whatever was sealed inside like a demon. That was what Tukiko remembered when she first met one in Kumo. When a demon is sealed inside a Jinchuuriki, they are usually hated by their village for they didn't see the person and demon as seperate. No. People only saw the person _as _the demon. They were orignally supposed to be weapons for war but some villages didn't seal them for war. In her short life, Tukiko had come across at least four Jinchuuriki as she traveled all around the nations. Some of them were even close to her. Of course, some people hated her for just being a friends with a demon but Tukiko didn't care. She didn't see the monster within them. She only saw the warden of the demon. But the person were usually lonely people and it saddened her. All they wanted was to be loved and yet they never got it. That was why when she first meets a Jinchuuriki host, she tries to cling to them and be their friends for as long as possible. They appreciated it.

_But Gaara..._Tukiko knew that she might never be able to become close to Gaara since he was insane because of his demon and was possibly out for her blood. Crap.

She tensed up as Gaara went into a crouch and lunged at her. Tukiko dodged the attack in time and hid behind a tree, shaking. There were crashes behind her. If she wasn't a second too late, she could have died! She took a shaky breath, looking over her shoulder to where Gaara was.

_Fuck! I haven't seen anything like him since Yugito!_

One time, she had accidentally eaten all of Yugito's sushi when she was in Kumo and she had gotten so pissed. She went into her demon state out of rage and Tukiko remembered that was the first time she was truly afraid of losing her life. She was chased around Kumo until the next day when she apologized to her. She promised herself never to try to antagonize any Jinchuuriki should she meet them to avoid a painful death. But she hadn't done anything to antagonize Gaara! His demon was just out for her blood!

"Why are you hiding? Are you afraid of me!? Tukiko...Uchiha!....Are you shocked by what I really looked like?" Gaara taunted her.

_Like I'm afraid of him! Yugito was scarier!_ Tukiko shakily stood to her feet, panting from all of the fear. She listened as Gaara kept taunting her to make her come out. She sighed. _Looks like I have no choice...I have to fight him!_

Tukiko came out of her hiding place. She leapt into the air to throw some kunai at him but his transformed arm blocked it. Gaara smiled manaically as he swung his arm at her. She made a hand seal as the arm hit her and turned into a log. Gaara laughed.

"Are you afraid of me...Tukiko Uchiha!..."

"Not on your life!" Tukiko appeared right behind Gaara to attack him but he had turned around and swung his arm at her again. She couldn't dodge in midair so she arched her back (like in the matrix!) and flipped downwards to avoid the attack. She landed on a branch, her blood pounding in her ears. Gaara chuckled.

"Here's a present for you!"

He swung his arm again to release the kunai she threw earlier but they came at a faster rate. Gasping, Tukiko used a substitution jutsu yet again to avoid it. She appeared behind a tree, trying to figure out what to do. She shivered, not sure what she was going to do.

"Fight me...Tukiko Uchiha!"

"N-No!" Tukiko stepped out of her hiding place, slowly. Her eyes held tears in them, her whole body shaking. "I-I don't want to fight you anymore."

Gaara laughed. "So you are afraid of me! I can see it...and it makes me want to kill you!"

"Stop it, please! I know what you've been through! I know that you want to prove you exist but it's not by this way!" Tukiko felt herself crying, her shoulders shaking. She was starting to remember when she was younger. Her father had ignored her like she wasn't even alive and all she wanted was his love. He never acknowledged her in any way except as a stranger. All Tukiko wanted in her life was the love of her father. Reading those stories about fathers loving their children, especially their daughters, made her want her father's love as well. But she never got it. Her father only treated both Itachi and Sasuke like his children but never her. Before she found out that her whole family was dead, Tukiko had thought that if she showed her father that she was a capable kunoichi, he would love her as well. But that was all gone. "If you want to be loved, you have to show others you want to! That's a horrible way to kill just to feel alive! That's not the way you should try to feel like that!"

"What would you know!? You've never been alone!" Gaara growled, his eyes glaring at her. "You don't know the pain of being lonely!"

"Maybe not! I still have my brother even if our whole clan is dead but it wasn't always like that! I've been traveling alone and by myself for the past six years. I've met many people but I never got to see them again and it felt horrible to travel alone. So please don't do this. I hate to see people die."

"Enough of your lies! If you won't fight I'll just kill you now!" Gaara swung his arm at her, ready to crush her. Tukiko gasped. Her back was against a tree and there was no time to escape. The disformed arm near her and Tukiko squeezed her eyes tightening, raising her arms to brace herself in a feeble way. She was ready for the excruciating pain. But the pain never came. Instead there was a scream of pain and someone landing in front of her.

"Tukiko, you are the most idiotic person I have ever known. Not even defending yourself was just a stupid mistake."

_Wait a second, I know that voice!_

Tukiko opened her eyes to see that it was....

---

Sorry! Another cliffhanger! I'm sure most of you would know who the person was anyway.

So there's the chapter! Oh, and I have an announcement to make! I have recently discovered a pairing that I didn't use to like but now am in love with! Do you know what it is? It's Sasuhina! I really did use to hate this pairing but I got bored one day. I was looking through NaruHina stories but I got bored with those so I randomly tried SasuHina though I didn't like it at the time. So I tried it and read one story and instantly fell in love! Now I'm obsessed with it. I even came up with a new story with this pairing so for you SasuHina fans, you should expect it sometime in the future!

That's pretty much it so review please!!!!


	17. Getting rescued

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I was never one to come up with such crazy characters.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 17

"Sasuke!"

Tukiko sighed in relief at the sight of her twin brother. She really thought that she was going to die for a second. She looked over his shoulder to see Gaara lying on a tree branch, laughing manaically. Sasuke positioned himself in front of his sister, ready to protect her.

"You really are an idiot!" He hissed to her. She flinched at his tone. "Why didn't you try to defend yourself? You could have died!"

"I was just trying to convince him to stop..."Tukiko muttered.

"You can't convince this guy." He glared at Gaara with his Sharingan eyes. "He's way past convincing. He's practically a monster."

"Don't say that! He's just misunderstood!" Which was true. Gaara didn't know any better than to do this.

Sasuke sighed. "Why is it you are always the one to see the 'good' in people?"

"Because I was born the sensible twin." Tukiko stuck her tongue out at him for that comment. "You're more of the rough, leap-before-you-think twin."

"No that's you. I actually have the brains to think before I leap."

"Nu-uh! I don't do that! At least I try not to hurt people without fully knowing why they do that!"

"Shut up." Sasuke turned back to Gaara, growling. "You'll pay for what you did to Tukiko." Then he turned back to her. "Go and hide. You must be worn out from chasing this guy and fighting him."

Tukiko didn't argue with him there. She was pretty exhausted. But she didn't want Sasuke to handle this guy alone. He could get killed!

"Like you almost did just now?" He replied to her thoughts. "Don't worry. I can handle this guy."

She bit her lip and pouted but complied with his request. She ran over to one of the trees out of range so that she could still witness the battle.

_Don't you dare die on me._

Sasuke looked over her shoulder with a smirk.

_I would never die if your life is on the line._

Gaara continued to laugh as his vicious eyes stared at Sasuke. "So that's how it is..No wonder I'm so excited! I just got the answer!" He stood to his feet, holding where Sasuke had hit him with Chidori. "This pain...Defeating someone strong enough to hurt me then crushing him...That's what gives me an even greater sense of existance!"

Sasuke smirked. Tukiko shivered at the smirk. It was slightly creeping her out, even from her own brother. She hugged to the tree trunk tighter.

"I want more...So much more!" Gaara was in a crouch by now. Sasuke and Tukiko noticed that sand started to pour out of the gourd and started to form a tail. They gasped in horror.

_What? He can grow even more?_ Sasuke thought in bewilderment. _What the hell is this guy?_

_Sasuke, be careful! He's not even fully formed yet but he could kill you!_ Tukiko warned him. Being a Jinchuuriki, she figured that Gaara could transform into the demon inside of him but it looked like he had no absolute control over it! _He's out of control! He won't hesitate to kill you!_

Sasuke didn't have time to respond as Gaara's tail and arm wrapped around the tree trunk he stood on. Then using both of them as a sort of moumentum, he launched himself at a fast rate. Sasuke barely jumped as Gaara zoomed past him, destroying the tree. Gaara's claws grabbed onto another branch, stopping him and sending him flying Sasuke's direction like a rubber band snapping back. Tukiko was forced to watch as Sasuke had tried to use a fireball jutsu and Gaara went through it like it was nothing. Then Gaara punched Sasuke, sending him flying through several trees before he stopped. She gasped.

"Sasuke!"

_Damn! I can't use Chidori again,_ Sasuke thought in frustration. _I already used it on the way here and again just to protect Tukiko. And if I try to use it again..._ He didn't even finish that thought but the two knew that if they tried to force Chidori again, they would have no chakra left and would die. Tukiko couldn't use it either since her chakra wasn't as developed as Sasuke's so she was only good for one shot and she already used it earlier. Now they were stuck and Sasuke could possibly die.

Gaara began to taunt Sasuke, saying he was weaker than he was and his hate was weak as well. Sasuke shouted for him to shut up and he continued to taunt him. It had gotten on her twin's nerves, making him remember he was an Avenger. Sasuke stood to his feet, his eyes the Sharingan and electricity crackled in his hand. Tukiko gasped again.

"No, Sasuke! You can't make that thrid shot! You'll die!"

He didn't listen as he and Gaara flew at each other. Halfway, the Chidori disappated, making Tukiko hold her breath. But then it sparked up again as it hit Gaara on the arm. They both landed on tree branches. Tukiko stared over at Gaara to see his transformed arm turn into sand again and fall. Then she looked over to Sasuke and her eyes went wide. The left side of his face was covered in the curse mark. Since it was only half the seal, it wouldn't take over but it would still give Sasuke an extra burst of chakra should he need it. And that worried Tukiko because the next thing that happened was that Sasuke fell onto the branch, groaning in pain.

Tukiko felt herself move through the trees to where her brother was. She knelt by his side, checking if he was alright. He was but he couldn't move. Tears fell down her cheeks in anger. "You idiot! I told you not to make that shot! Are you trying to kill yourself!?"

Sasuke cracked one eye open to retort at her but widened. "Tukiko, get out of the way!"

"Huh?" Tukiko heard a growl right behind and had just turned to see Gaara right near her, flying at them. She didn't have time to react as an orange blur came by and kicked Gaara away from the two. The blur landed in front of them and it turned out to be Naruto. Sakura and a dog soon came in and landed next to them. Sakura was checking Sasuke to see if he was okay.

"Sakura? Naruto! How did you guys find us?" Tukiko asked.

"Kakashi-sensei came over to the stadium and told us to use his summon to follow you," Sakura explained, looking at the curse marks on Sasuke. "He said that he sent Sasuke to follow you and we had to back him up. How did Sasuke-kun get these marks? Aren't they yours?"

Tukiko shook her head. "That's a story for another time but right now, we're in trouble. Sasuke had to make a thrid shot when he couldn't and is in pain now!" She glared at Sasuke through her tears.

Sasuke couldn't even remark as he groaned in pain. Sakura grew worried and frowned.

"Hey, Tukiko-chan, who is this guy?" Naruto asked, pointing at the transformed Gaara.

"He may look different but that's Gaara," the little pug next to Tukiko said.

She nodded. "He's right. That's Gaara and he started to transform during our battle." She stopped to see Sasuke cough up some blood.

Suddenly, Gaara leapt past Naruto towards the girls. Tukiko had no idea what happened next. She vaguely saw as Sakura steeled herself in front of Sasuke, kunai in hand. Gaara thought nothing of it as he pushed Sakura into a nearby tree and held her there. Tukiko found herself next to Gaara. It wouldn't be safe to be near him so she picked up Sasuke's heavy body and jumped to another tree branch. Both Tukiko and Naruto glared at Gaara.

"You bastard! Let Sakura go!" Tukiko screamed, her Sharingan activated. She may have known Sakura for only a short time but she considered the pink haired girl one of her friends. Tukiko may not be a violent person but if someone harms her family and friends, she would kill.

Without thinking, Tukiko tried to make a Chidori. She pushed all of her chakra and more into the jutsu so that the electricity sparked in her hand. She glared at Gaara, the left side of her face covered in marks as well. "Let Sakura go!" she screamed again, launching herself at the arm that held Sakura. With her Chidori, she sliced right through the arm. Gaara screamed in pain as the hand that was disconnected turned into sand and Sakura started to fall. Luckily, Naruto had come by and saved Sakura. Tukiko landed on a branch, groaning in pain. She fell onto the tree branch, her whole body burning in pain. She watched through one eye as Naruto and Gaara started to fight. The pain grew to be too much as Tukiko drifted out of consiouness.

Tukiko was only out of commission for what seemed like hours but in reality was only ten minutes. That was enough time for Naruto and Gaara to go full out and fight but she didn't know. She regained consiousness just as the battle around her was starting to end. She had just opened her eyes as Naruto and Gaara both fell to the ground, unable to move. Tukiko groaned, pulling herself up while holding her head.

_Man! It feels like I got a hangover._

Tukiko shook her head and stood up to her feet. She glanced around her to see that the whole area was practically destroyed. Scanning around, she found that Sasuke, Sakura and that little pug were all okay but where were Naruto and Gaara? She began to jump around, searching for the two until she found them on the forest floor, both too worn out. Naruto was trying to crawl to Gaara while Naruto was telling him he was alone as well. He was all alone with no one to love him but later on, he found friends who filled the loneliness in his heart. Tukiko had started to cry during his little speech and jumped down to Naruto. She knelt by him, smiling.

"Save your strength, Naruto. You've done so much already," she said to him.

"Sakura is alright as well," Sasuke said, appearing by Tukiko's side. He turned to Gaara. "This guy is probably out of chakra by now. We're safe."

"I...see..." Naruto closed his eyes, exhausted from the fight.

Temari and Kankuro appeared in front of Gaara, ready to defend. Tukiko merely smiled at them, wiping away her tears.

"Sorry...about all the damage we did to your brother."

The two looked surprised. Temari narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you saying sorry?"

"Because we hurt your brother," Tukiko said, looking at the beaten Gaara. "If you were in my place, you would say sorry for hurting another's sibling, wouldn't you? I know I would be pissed if anyone lay a hand on my brothers." She glanced at Sasuke. "Even if Gaara was out to kill, I didn't like hurting him so again, sorry." She stood to her feet and bowed in apology.

The two just stared at her before they took Gaara and got out of there.

Tukiko sighed, wiping away any leftover tears on her face. Then she smiled down at Naruto.

_That knucklehead...He just beat Gaara and all for his friends...He's going to be a great shinobi one day..._

Sasuke rolled his eyes but silently agreed with his sister. After the amazing battle that he witnessed Naruto fight, he felt that Naruto was becoming stronger each day. For that reason, he had to become stronger so that he could someday fight Naruto.

"Is Sakura okay?" Tukiko asked Sasuke.

He nodded. "She's just unconsious. And that reminds me, who was the one who said if they made another shot, they would die?" He glared at his sister, reprimending her for making that second shot she shouldn't have made.

"Oh, come on! It was to save Sakura! At least I didn't die!" Tukiko huffed. "Anyways, pick up Naruto. We have to get him treated."

Sasuke shook his head but did as he was told. Then they got Sakura and started to make their way back to the village.

----

Two days passed as it came to the funeral for the Sandiame Hokage. Every shinobi in the village were currently on the roof of the Hokage Tower, dressed in black to commemorize the deaths of the Sandiame and all the others who died during the attack.

It was raining that day. Tukiko stood next to Sasuke, her hand entertwined with his for comfort. Sasuke held onto his sister's hand, looking ready to never let go. Tukiko felt great sorrow for the lost lives of all the others and wanted to cry. Her tears wouldn't come out. Her head was hung for her hair to cover her tear filled eyes. Luckily, the rain made her tears invisible. They didn't fall at all.

She hated this. All those lives were lost during the attack. It made her hurt more than it should. Especially for the Hokage. Although he was the one to agree to the clan union, she couldn't find herself to hate the old man. He was kind to her and the others. He even made her a genin when she was about to ask as well! He cared for the village and he had died for his village. A great man like that...it was sad to see his death.

_I hope...wherever he is...Hokage-sama is happy and can watch over everyone...._

_---_

Okay, sorry for the mega lame chapter. I know that some of you expected Tukiko to join the fight but I couldn't come up with how she was going to join the fight. It's a jinchurriki fight! How the heck was I supposed to fit in a girl with no demon to help her!? She would get killed within two seconds and not to mention she can't help Naruto fight when they have that huge summons fight! So sorry if I disappointed most of you. But I would like to thank you all for the reviews! 11 reviews for one chapter! That's a new record for me and the amount of people who favorited this story...! So thank you all for your kind comments (well, except for one or two but hey, I can't win them all!)

Please review!!!


	18. Convincing the Hyuga leader

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But it would be cool if I did! Okay, maybe not.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 18

A few days passed after the funeral and everyone was doing their best to rebuild everything that was destroyed during the attack. Everyone was doing their best and all the ninjas were busy with missions. And most of all, all of the genins were training to their strongest or volunteering to help out. It was a momentary peaceful time, even for the Uchiha twins.

But one person's peace was shattered one fateful morning.

It was morning time as Sasuke and Tukiko were getting ready for the day. While Sasuke was in the bathroom, getting ready for the day, Tukiko was downstairs preparing their breakfast. She even prepared the table for the both of them. It was still a constant habit for Tukiko to be the one to prepare their meals with no arguement. Actually, she found it quite relaxing but she would never admit it to anyone else. Maybe there was an upside to those stupid lessons that stuck with her through the years after all.

Tukiko had just set down a plate full of blueberry pancakes and some sliced tomatoes for the two of them when she heard a knock on the door. "I'm coming!" she called out. Wiping her hands on the apron she wore, she took it off and set it on a chair before heading to the door. She went to the door and slid open the door to see a woman with black hair and pearl eyes. There was a cloth tied around her forehead, meaning that A) she was a Hyuga and B) she was of the branch family. That couldn't be good.

"Yes? May I help you?" Tukiko asked politely.

"Yes, is Tukiko Uchiha-san home?" she asked in a dull voice.

"That would be I," she nodded at herself.

The woman blushed, darting her eyes away from Tukiko. She had to resist to roll her eyes. The woman mistook her for Sasuke since she was back to wearing some boy clothes for the day. "Oh, um, Uchiha-san, would you please go to the Hyuga compound immidiately? Hiashi-sama wishes to speak to you."

"Okay, sure." Tukiko smiled as she slid the door close. That was when she started panicking. "Omigosh, the Hyuga know I'm here! I am so screwed!"

She walked back into the kitchen where Sasuke was sitting down and eating. Suddenly, Tukiko didn't have the appetite to eat anymore. She shakily sat down across from Sasuke. Sasuke realized that his sister wasn't eating and asked, "Who was at the door?"

"A-A woman f-from the Hyuga branch family." Tukiko gulped, making Sasuke pause. "S-She said I-I have t-to meet H-Hyuga-sama immidiately. As in, after breakfast."

Sasuke dropped his fork, staring at her. "Are you serious?" She nodded and he cursed. "Damn! We're in trouble."

"I-I know. H-Hinata told me during the first exam that now they found out about me, since I shouted for Neji to just shut up about our engagement during his and Naruto's match, I-I have to live with the Hyuga's from now on."

"What!? But why!?"

"I-I'm Neji's fiaance and the bride of the Hyugas. Hinata's father is going to make me stay just so I could continue with my housewife training and live there until my wedding day." At that, Tukiko broke out into tears. "They're going to seperate us! I'll never be able to leave the compound so I can't see you!"

"Shit!" Now Sasuke lost his appetite. He leaned back in his chair, pushing away his plate while angry. "They can't seperate us! Because of that seal and divide, we're not allowed to be a hundred feet away from each other. Otherwise-"

"The mark will go to me (you)," they both said. They both sighed at the same time.

"We might as well as get this over with. I lost my appetite," Sasuke said. He stood up from his chair and walked to the front door. Tukiko quickly covered the uneaten food to eat later and followed her brother. After putting on their shoes, they left the house and the compound to head to the Hyuga home.

Tukiko was very nervous by now. She didn't want to meet Hiashi so soon! She wasn't ready to even face him! Why, oh, why did she have to reveal herself at the Finals? That only made things worse for her. And because of her stupid mistake, she might have lost her privelage to continue being a kunoichi and stuck in a house all day. It was all her fault and she was paying the price.

Sooner than the two would have like it, Sasuke and Tukiko reached the Hyuga home. Tukiko held onto the back of Sasuke's shirt (A/N: I do this all the time with my brother even though I'm fifteen and he's seventeen. Especially in crowds.) as he led her to the front door and knocked on it. A few minutes of waiting and the door opened to reveal one of the servents. He eyed the two.

"We're here to see Hyuga-sama," Sasuke stated, glaring at the man. "Its about the issue of Tukiko Uchiha."

"Ah," the man nodded and bowed. "Hyuga-sama has been waiting for you. Please, come in." He stepped to the side to let Tukiko and Sasuke enter. They both took of their shoes and entered the home. "Please follow me."

They followed the man through the house, not saying anything. Tukiko was tightening her hand on Sasuke's shirt for some sort of reassureance. She was nervous as hell. She really didn't want to do this but it was inevitable. It had to be settled sooner or later. The man stopped at one door and slid it open. He stepped inside, bowing.

"Hyuga-sama, the Uchihas are here."

There was a pause and the man turned to them. He motioned for them to enter and they obeyed. Upon entering the room, they saw they were in a room that was similar to theirs where they would sit to discuss things. In front of them sat Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata, who looked like she didn't want to be there, a girl about eight years old, and Neji. Sasuke sat down with his legs tucked underneath him and Tukiko copied him. They bowed.

"Hyuga-sama," they said simulatnously.

"Sasuke-san, Tukiko-chan," Hiashi nodded his head to the both of them. "We need to discuss many things. One of them is the matter of the marriage contract."

Tukiko lowered her eyes but didn't let her depression show on her face.

"Although your clan has been eliminated to just the two of you, the marriage contract is still intact as there are still members of the clan left," Hiashi said in a serious tone. "But as both of you are both underage, the clan elders have decided that it is unsafe for Tukiko to live in your home and is safer if she lived here."

"Hyuga-sama, I know you mean well letting Tukiko into your home," Sasuke started in an equally serious tone. "But I am afraid we will not be able to let that happen."

"And why not?" Neji asked in a suporior tone, glaring at Sasuke. "You do not want to let your sister go, do you Uchiha-san?"

"I couldn't even if I had to. We're not allowed to be away from each other, Neji Hyuga." Sasuke glared back at him.

"Settle down, you two," Hiashi said in a calming tone. "I know you do not wish to be seperated from your sister, Uchiha-san, but we insist that Tukiko to live with us."

"No, we aren't allowed to be seperated," Tukiko said in a small voice. Everyone turned to her despite that. "It's not because we don't want to be seperate but it's because we don't want...anything horrible to happen to either of us. You see, we have a...problem that allows us to stay together but if we are seperated for a full 24 hours, something bad will happen to us."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "And what would this 'problem' happen to be?"

Tukiko fidgeted, not sure how to say. She didn't want to tell Hiashi about their curse mark. It would probably freak them out. She shook her head. "We can't say." Her eyes glanced over to Neji, whose eyes were slowly starting to understand what she meant. He was there when she went beserk with the curse mark in the forest of death.

"Then how can we know if you are lying about this 'problem' just to not be seperated?" The little girl that was by Hinata accused.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi shot the little girl a small glare. It silenced her. Then he turned to the twins. "We will discuss about your living arrangements later. I will also like to discuss about your career as a kunoichi, Tukiko. Do you like it?"

"Well, yes! I did train for six years to be a kunoichi," Tukiko answered, a bit embarrassed. "What about it?"

Hiashi sighed. "I am sorry to do this but I ask that you quit as a kunoichi."

Tukiko tensed up and Sasuke could feel it. He glanced to weigh his sister's reaction through the corners of her eyes but she gave none. Her mind told another story. She was currenly raging within her mind and cursing and crying at the same time. It was a bit depressing to see his sister like this mentally.

"Quit?" she asked in a quiet tone.

"Yes. If you continue to be a kunoichi, you may very well die during a mission. We want you to be safe until you are sixteen when you will be married. That is why we ask you to quit."

"Um, F-Father?" Hinata said in a small tone. "D-Does T-Tukiko-chan really need t-to quit? I-I mean, s-she had trained h-her for s-six years t-to become one."

"I'm sorry, Hinata. It must happen."

"Actually it doesn't," said a voice from behind Tukiko and Sasuke. They looked behind them to see that Kakashi had entered the room.

"Kakashi Hatake, what are you doing here?" Hiashi said, standing to his feet.

"What _are_ you doing here, Kakashi?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at the man for showing up all of a sudden.

"I heard about the little announcement Tukiko made during the Finals," Kakashi said, his eye in the upside down U thing again. He lingered on Tukiko, who blushed in embarrassment. "So a marriage, huh? I never expected for a cute girl like you to be engaged already."

"W-Well..." She continued to blush, looking down.

"This doesn't concern you, Hatake-san," Hiashi said in a slightly threatening tone.

"I'm afraid it does if it involves one of my students." Kakashi turned serious again. "These two speak the truth when they said that they are not allowed to be seperated."

"How?"

Kakashi walked over to Hiashi and whispered in his ear. Hiashi blinked a few times as Kakashi told him something and widened when hearing something. He stared between Sasuke and Tukiko for a second.

"Are you sure that worked?" he asked.

"Yup!" He pulled away. "If they are even seperated, their very lives could be in danger."

_Isn't death pushing it?_ Tukiko wondered.

_Be glad it is. He's trying to convince the Hyuga leader to let you live with me._ Sasuke did have a point.

Hiashi nodded. "I see...Then it would be wise if Tukiko _did_ live with her brother. But she does need to quit as a shinobi."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I thought that you wanted a strong kunoichi in your clan?"

It was Hiashi's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not see the match between Gaara and Tukiko before the attack? I heard from Gai that she held her own against him and avoided all major attacks. In a few years, she might even be stronger."

"Oh yeah...I forgot about that," Tukiko muttered.

"You forgot you faced a homocidal kid?" Sasuke muttered back. He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, you amaze me."

"Sometimes I amaze myself too."

"You were the one to teach her that technique of yours?" Hiashi asked in amazement.

"Of course! It _is_ my only original attack." Kakashi smiled at Tukiko through his mask. "She could amount to something if she continues."

Hiashi stared at Tukiko, remembering how calm she was during her fight against Gaara. She was light and fast and could possibly beat a few people in the Hyuga clan, which was a bad thing should she fight Neji. (A/N: This shall be explained in a few chapters or so) He didn't.

After many discussions between Hiashi and Kakashi going back and forth to reasons why Tukiko should continue being a ninja. The kids eventually got bored and ended up waiting outside while the adults argued it out. So they were in the hallway, listening to the arguement.

"Man, are they ever going to finish?" Tukiko asked, leaning against a wall next to Sasuke who did the same thing.

"Father is tough to negotiate with," Hanabi said, sitting on the floor next to Hinata's feet. She yawned.

"He is?"

"You should see him when it comes to who gets the last cinnamon bun with Hinata."

Tukiko raised an eyebrow. "You're joking."

"No, it is amusing to see Hiashi-sama to be arguing with Hinata-sama about who gets the last one," Neji mentioned, smirking at the memory. Hinata only blushed. "So, Tukiko-san, I would like to congratulate you on surviving against Gaara."

She blinked a few times and sheepishly smiled. "Thanks! You weren't that bad in your match against Naruto. Though I could do without the fate stuff."

Neji shrugged. "I supposed it was fate for Naruto-san to win after all."

"Hn." She sighed, seeing that Neji was doing it again.

The arguing seemed to end because there was only silence. Then the door opened to show a happy Kakashi and a scowling Hiashi.

"Well, Tukiko, it looks like you get to keep your status as a kunoichi!" Kakashi chirped.

Hiashi grumbled something they couldn't hear and he just walked away. Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji bowed to the three of them before following him.

"Wow..." Tukiko smiled up at Kakashi as she, Sasuke and Kakashi started to exit the home. "Thanks Kakashi! Maybe I was wrong about you, after all."

"About what?"

"That you're just a perverted, chronically late man who seemed to have a bra for Tukiko," Sasuke said, giving a strange look at the man. "How _did_ you get that bra?"

"I have my ways."

Tukiko and Sasuke shook their heads before leaving Kakashi.

"What a pervert," Tukiko commented.

"At least he got you out of living with the Hyugas and still being a ninja."

"Now I feel bad for stealing this."

Sasuke gave Tukiko a questioning look and his eyes widened as Tukiko held a certain Icha Icha book in her hands.

"You didn't."

She sheepishly smiled. "Whoops?"

"Tukiko Uchiha!" A yell was heard throughout Konoha.

"Eep!" Tukiko and Sasuke bolted from that street before Kakashi found them hours later.

---

Okay, so I decided to update a second chapter this week! I wanted to get this one out of the way because it's more of a filler chapter though I did rush it at the end. I just wanted to get to the next chapter which will be more exciting than this one.

But please review anyway!


	19. Surprise reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 19

_"Ne, Tukiko-chan, do you want to buy some tomatoes?" Mikoto asked her five year old daughter._

_"Hai! And get lots of it for Sasu-chan so he can get better!" Tukiko excitedly said to her mother as she held onto Itachi._

_Right now, Mikoto, Itachi and Tukiko were at the market getting some food. It was unusal for Tukiko to be seen without Sasuke that day but her brother had caught a cold and Mikoto didn't want her to catch it either. So for the day, she was out with her mother and older brother while their father watched over Sasuke. But at the market, Tukiko was starting to get bored following her mother and brother._

_So to escape the boredom, Tukiko snuck out of the shop when both her mother and brother's backs were turned. She smirked that famous Uchiha smirk and decided to look around the area near the shop. She didn't want a replay of what happened last year at the fair. Tukiko glanced around to see a ball near by. She had walked over and just picked up the ball when someone suddenly pushed her._

_Tukiko fell onto the ground, scraping her knees. The ball bounced out of her hands. She groaned, feeling the scrapes and looked up to see a boy near her age. He was glaring at her and she glared back._

_"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Tukiko demanded, picking herself up to glare at the boy._

_"You had my ball and took it." He shrugged. "That's it."_

_"That's it!? You pushed me to get some ball? Why didn't you just ask instead of pushing me!?" Tukiko was outraged and pissed. She had never met many boys near her age except for Sasuke because she thought boys were stupid except for her brothers. They acted like they were tough when they weren't._

_The boy began to become mad as well. "You wouldn't have given it back!"_

_"Yes, I would!"_

_"Oh, well!" The boy huffed as he walked over to the ball._

_Tukiko didn't like the fact that the boy just walked away without apologizing. Her anger took over and she just jumped on the boy. The boy was caught off guard but soon started to resist. The two began to fight and wrestle in the dirt as passerbys stared at the children. They didn't even try to interfere. Tukiko punched the boy as much as she could and the boy did the same. He even bit her in the arm._

_"Ouch!" Tukiko growled as the boy bit her on the arm. To make him let go, she raised her fist to punch the boy on the nose. He let go of Tukiko and clamped his nose which started to bleed. Tukiko took this time to pin the boy and make him lay on his back. She sat on his stomach, pinning his arms to the side. She smirked in triumph. "Are you going to say sorry now?"_

_"What's going on here?" a male voice said near Tukiko. She looked up to see the face of an older boy, probably a teen. He was a ninja by the hitai-ate tied around his arm. The teen stared at Tukiko and then at the boy. He then glared at Tukiko who returned it with her Uchiha glare. "Did you do this to my brother?"_

_Tukiko opened her mouth to retort she did but stopped when someone picked her up by the back of her collar. She didn't flaile as she was lifted into the air and off the boy and set down on the ground. She glanced up to see Itachi, frowning at her._

_"Oh, Itachi-san," the teen said in surprise. He picked up his own brother and handed him a tissue to clean up his bloody nose. The boy glared at Tukiko who glared back. The teen pointed down at Tukiko. "Is this your little brother? And why is he wearing a dress?"_

_Itachi and Tukiko sighed at the question._

_"Actually, this is my little _sister_, Tama-san. Sasuke is at home, sick with a cold."_

_"Oh. Sorry." Tama looked very embarrassed._

_"Tch. I don't even think she is a girl. She's more like a boy," Tama's little brother said._

_"What did you say!?" Tukiko growled. She raised up a fist. "At least this girl kicked your butt!"_

_"I was going easy on you!"_

_"Oh yeah? Then what was with all of the biting!?"_

_"That was to get you off!"_

_"What kind of boy bites a girl? I probably have your cooties by now." Tukiko made a face._

_"Boys don't have cooties! Girls do!"_

_"Nu-uh!"_

_"Uh-huh!"_

_The two children flinched as their brothers hit them upside the head. They rubbed their heads in pain. Tukiko looked up but flinched at Itachi's glare._

_"I'm very sorry for my sister's actions towards your brother, Tama-san," Itachi said, bowing in apology to the teen._

_"No, I'm sorry about my brother's actions." He bowed and gave a pointed look at his brother. "Apologize to Uchiha-san, Otouto."_

_The boy frowned but bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, Uchiha-san," he grumbled._

_Tukiko smiled and bowed. "Thanks for finally apologizing for pushing me when you could asked me for your stupid ball," she said. "And I guess...I'm sorry about giving you the bloody nose. I wouldn't have given it to you if you apologized in the first place." She kept her mouth shut as she saw the glare Itachi was giving her._

_Tama laughed. "Wow, Itachi-san. I didn't know that your sister was training to be a ninja already."_

_The Uchiha siblings blinked._

_"What do you mean?" Itachi asked, quite confused._

_"Your sister is training right? She couldn't have given my Otouto a bloody nose and pin him down so easily without some training. Otouto is already training to be a ninja as well and is improving his taijutsu."_

_"Oh, my Imouto is not training to be a ninja," Itachi explained. "She hasn't had any kind of training."_

_"Well, she should! She could be a great ninja one day. We should head home now, Otouto. Goodbye, Itachi-san, Tukiko-san." Tama bowed before picking up the ball and taking his brother to walk down the street._

_Tukiko stared at their retreating backs and glanced up at her brother. He seemed a bit out of it, staring off into space. She tugged at his pants._

_"Aniki? Are you all right?"_

_Itachi blinked and stared down at his sister's wide eyes. "It's nothing, Imouto."_

_She frowned but let it go. "Okay. We should probably go find Mother now!"_

_"Alright. But you're still in trouble for roughhousing with that boy."_

_Tukiko pouted but held her brother's hand as he led her back to her mother. Itachi gave a rare smile to his little sister. Who knew? She might be a kunoichi one day and a good one at that._

_---_

"Tukiko..." Someone started to shake Tukiko's shoulder, bringing her out of her dreams. She opened her eyes, only to let tears slip down the corners of her eyes. Blinking away the tears, she stared up into Sasuke's frowning eyes. "Come on. We have to go meet Kakashi."

Tukiko did a grunt of understanding and sat up. She rubbed her eyes from her lying position on the hard ground. She and Sasuke had gone to this roof to relax so that they could get some peace. She must have fallen asleep at one point. But she couldn't help but think about that memory. Why was she having a memory of her Aniki all of a sudden?

Sasuke made no comment to Tukiko's thoughts but felt anger rising in him. He didn't like the fact that Tukiko still referred that _man_ as her brother. He was no brother of theirs. Not anymore.

Tukiko finally stood to her feet and wiped off the dirt on her white skirt. She was back to wearing the clothes Kakashi gave to her. She was getting used to that outfit but tied her hitai-ate around her forehead. She followed Sasuke down to the market street. By what Sasuke told her, they were supposed to meet Kakashi in front of a sweet shop in town. They reached the sweet shop to see Kakashi leaning against the wall and Asuma and Kurenai speaking to him. They stopped when seeing the twins. Tukiko blinked at Kakashi.

"Whoa, Kakashi. It's weird to see you here first before us," Tukiko commented.

"Well, sometimes I'm early," Kakashi said, giving a small glare at her. She rolled her eyes. He was probably still mad she stole his Icha Icha book when she gave it back hours later.

"Can we eat somewhere else? We hate sweets," Sasuke remarked, peering into the shop.

"Oh, I see." Kakashi gave a look to Asuma and Kurenai. They nodded before disappearing.

_What was that about?_ The twins wondered. If those two had to leave so suddenly, then something was up.

"So what did you need, Kakashi?" Tukiko asked the jonin.

Kakashi gave that upside down U eye thing again.

"I want you to get something for me. For repayment of what happened a few days ago for taking my book."

Tukiko had a creeping feeling this wasn't going to be good. Sasuke only felt sorry for his sister.

"So what do you want me to do?" Tukiko asked.

"I want you to buy me a new copy of Icha Icha paradise since you happened to drop my book in water."

"That was an accident!" While Kakashi was chasing her, she had accidentally dropped his book in a puddle of water and she had to still pick it up. Tukiko's shoulders slumped. "Do I really have to get it?"

"Yes. Drop it off at my apartment once you get it. I have to go take care of something. Ja ne!"

Before Tukiko could argue, he disappeared. She groaned and sighed.

_Crap. That means I have to go to a bookstore and buy that stupid thing._

"Your fault for grabbing that thing in the first place," Sasuke commented as the two started to walk to the bookstore.

"But that thing is a peice of literature trash!" Tukiko huffed as they entered the store. She was always a bookworm when they were younger and still was. She considered books a serious thing. The Icha Icha series was a sad excuse of a book. She didn't say more on the matter as she found the book and paid for it. The man at the counter gave her a look when seeing the book and she glared back. "What? It's not for me! It's for my perverted teacher."

The man kept staring at her but accepted her money. She thanked for it and headed outside where Sasuke was waiting. Seeing the book in her hands, he nodded and the two started to walk to Kakashi's apartment. They reached the apartment and didn't even bother knocking. For some reason, the front door was open as well. They let themselves in. Finding no one, they began to search through the apartment for the man. They finally found him in his bedroom but there was also Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai hanging around the room.

"Kakashi!" Tukiko gasped. She pushed past Sasuke and set down his book on the table, staring at Kakashi's form on the bed. He seemed like he was sleeping. She turned to Asuma. "What happened to him? He seemed fine earlier."

"And why are jonins hanging around where he's resting?" Sasuke added.

"Oh, nothing really," Gai answered with a nervous laugh.

Suddenly the door opened and a chunin entered through the door, shouting,

"Is it true that Itachi Uchiha really returned? And he's chasing after Naruto?"

Tukiko felt Sasuke tense up at the name which made her tense.

_Itachi..._Sasuke thought, rage within his thoughts. It made Tukiko get worried. What had Itachi done to make Sasuke act like this?

Suddenly, Sasuke rushed out the door at top speed. Tukiko gasped at Sasuke's speed. Where was he going? Where ever he was heading to, she had to follow him.

"I'm sorry!" Tukiko gave a quick bow before heading off to follow her brother. She had to jump out the window and jump through the roofs to go down to the street where Sasuke was dashing down. She caught up with Sasuke easily as he stopped by a ramen bar. She skidded to a halt beside him, panting.

"Sasuke, what was that all about?" she demanded.

"We have to find Naruto before _he _gets to him." Sasuke entered the ramen bar and started to interogate the old man inside about where Naruto was. The old man told him that a man with white hair named Jiraiya had spoken to Naruto about going on some trip with him. They were also heading to an outpost town nearby. Sasuke nodded at the information and ran out of the shop, heading to the Village gates.

"Sasuke!" Tukiko ran to catch up with her brother and ran beside him. She stared into his eyes to see the unspeakable rage behind them. "Why is Naruto in danger? What's going on!?"

"Tukiko, I want you to stay here in the village! You'll be safer that way," Sasuke ordered, ignoring everything she was asking.

Tukiko glared at her brother. "No! I'm not going to let you go alone to do whatever it is."

"This isn't a request, Tukiko! You're going to be in danger!"

"I don't care! Naruto is my friend too, you know! If he's in danger, I'm not going to stand by and let him get hurt!"

Sasuke turned to glare at his sister but saw that she wasn't going to back down. He gritted his teeth. "Fine! But if it gets dangerous, you have to get out of there."

She grinned. "I'm not going to get hurt. I can take care of myself you know."

_I just hope that's true._ Sasuke nodded and continued to run.

They ran out of the village and started sprinting towards the town that man told them about. All the while, Tukiko wondered who this man he was talking about. The one who was too dangerous and was after Naruto. Just who was this man?

The twins reached the town and glanced around. There were many people in the streets, having fun. Sasuke cursed.

"We can't go through all of these buildings just to find Naruto." He turned to Tukiko. "We'll split up. Go to every place to find Naruto. If you find him, tell me immidiately and do _not_ do anything until I'm there."

"Right!" Tukiko nodded and they split up. She ran through the town, poking her head inside each building she came across. She couldn't find Naruto anywhere with the white haired old man he was supposed to be wtih. She bit her lip as she checked through the hotels. He might have checked into an inn by now.

_Grr! But who the hell is the person hunting down Naruto!? Just why is it so important that we find him first? Just why is Sasuke so mad?_

All of these questions didn't help her. She knew none of these answers which only confused her even more. She wished Sasuke could tell her why she was also in danger if this man was going to be a danger to her as well.

Tukiko ran into another hotel, one that had a more japanese atmosphere with the ponds and laterns hanging around the lobby. She ran to the front desk where a woman was waiting.

"Excuse me but have you seen a boy around my age, has blond hair, wearing orange, and wearing this hitai-ate?" She pointed to her own hitai-ate to be an example. "He's also traveling with a white haired old man."

"A white haired old man with a blond haired kid with the Konoha hitai-ate, huh?" The woman put a hand under her chin, thinking. "I believe I saw them during the shift change. And here's the room number." Tukiko leaned in at the book as she pointed to the room number Naruto was staying in.

"Thank you!" She gave a small bow before running up to the next floor to get to Naruto's room. She ran up to at a time, running at her top speed. Turning the corner, she halted into the hallway before her. She saw Naruto at the end of the hall but there were also two men in black cloaks with red cloud patterns there as well. One of the men had a bandaged sword on his back. At the sight of the two, Tukiko knew Naruto might be in trouble. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto peeked out from between the men and gasped. "Tukiko-chan, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were in trouble and Sasuke and I were searching everywhere for you!" Tukiko glanced at the men, her Sharingan activating. "Are these the guys?"

The taller man turned and gave an impressed look at her. "So that kid has the Sharingan. Quite lucky for me. Though the kid is weird for cross-dressing as a girl."

"I'm not cross-dressing, you fish freak! I'm a girl!" Tukiko growled. Must her enemies disrespect her by calling her a boy?

"You're a girl?" He laughed then turned to the man beside him. "Do you know this kid?"

The man turned around and Tukiko froze up at the sight of his eyes. They were the Sharingan. She felt her hands go up to her mouth in shock. Her eyes went really wide at the sight of the man.

"A-Aniki....?"

---

Yes! I updated again! So I got to the good part where Tukiko, Sasuke and Itachi meet after all these years! How will Tukiko react to meeting her brother? Will all end well? U just have to read to find out!


	20. The siblings reunite

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I would love to own the Uchiha brothers though!

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 20

Tukiko couldn't believe her eyes. Was she seeing true? The sight of her dear older brother standing at the end of the hallway? She was frozen as she stared at Itachi. He had grown a lot from the twelve year old boy she remembered from her past. He was probably seventeen or eighteen by now. His appearance hadn't changed much except for being more lean and muscular than before. Other than that, it was as if he was still the same. For that, Tukiko almost felt like running to him and hugging him for all these years she was gone.

_Maybe not..._Tukiko thought. There was something _very_ different about her brother from the twelve year old boy she grew up with and admired the most. She didn't know what it was. When looking at the cold glare Itachi was giving her, she could tell that he was colder even in her prescene. But Tukiko was good at reading people's eyes. That was a talent she prided herself with when meeting stoic people to see how they felt. Looking at Itachi's eyes, she saw that deep within that there _was_ some happiness as well as sadness and regret that other people could not see.

"Aniki..."Tears sprung up in her eyes.

"Hn. Imouto..."

"Oh, this is your little sister?" The fish man asked Itachi. "I heard that there was only one survivor of the Uchiha clan, who _you_ killed. This must be her, huh?"

"No...That was my little brother. Imouto wasn't around during the massacre," Itachi explained in a very cold voice. Tukiko flinched. She had never heard her brother like this before.

"So it's true," Tukiko gasped, tears falling. "Sasuke was actually right! You did kill our clan! How could you!? I may not have liked Father as much but did you have to kill him _and_ Mother? And what about the rest of the clan? How could you even kill the civilan one's as well? What did they ever do to you!?"

"You do not need to know, Imouto."

"I don't need to know!? I am sick and tired of all of this! I read the letters Sasuke wrote to me when we were seven." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She didn't need to rile herself up. When she calmed down, she glared at Itachi. "He wrote that you were acting very strange which led to the massacre. What I want to know is why did you do that."

"I killed our clan to test my abilites. That is all."

"Don't you dare give me that crap! I know there's more to it than that! As long as I have traveled, I always believed people did things for a purpose. And you're not stupid enough to just randomly kill the clan! There is a reason, isn't there?"

"Hn." Itachi kept glaring at her.

"Just tell me, goddamnit!" Tukiko was tired of her brother being mysterious. Anger rose up in her which made her do something irriational. She ran towards Itachi with a fist raised. She aimed to punch him but Itachi stopped her. Before Tukiko could find out what was going on, Itachi punched her in the stomach. She fell on the ground, lying in pain.

"Tukiko-chan!" Naruto yelled.

"Those six years have done nothing for you." Itachi picked up Tukiko by the scruff of her back collar. He lifted her to his eye level to look at her in the eye. "You were foolish to run away, Imouto."

"I already had the lecture on that, thankyouverymuch!" She growled at him. She was still in pain and didn't even try to fight. She knew that Itachi was strong when they were younger. Who knew how much stronger he was now? "I don't need this from you either since I got this from Sasuke, Hyuga-sama, and even Kakashi and Naruto! So please don't tell me I was stupid to run away."

"Hn."

"Tukiko-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Let go of her!"

"You're in no position to order us around, brat," Shark guy said to Naruto, grinning.

Tukiko kept staring in Itachi's eyes, still seeing the hurt there. Tears fell down the corner of her eyes. Why was her brother acting this way? He was acting exactly like their father! "Aniki..."

Itachi shifted his eyes past Tukiko and to the end of the hallway. "It's been a long time, Sasuke."

Tukiko gasped, attempting to look behind her. Itachi suddenly dropped her and she landed on the floor. Groaning at the pain of the punch on her stomach, she lifted her head up to see Sasuke at the end of the hallway, his Sharingan activated and glaring at Itachi. His eyes shifted to his twin sister on the pain suffering and growled.

"Itachi Uchiha, you bastard! Stay the fuck away from Tukiko!"

"Ooh, so _that's _your little brother! I didn't know you had twin siblings, Itachi-san," Shark guy commented.

_Tukiko, what the hell did I say!? I told you to wait for me!_ Sasuke scolded her, glaring daggers at the man who knocked her to the ground.

"I-I thought you were wrong, Sasuke," Tukiko said, trying her best to get up. That proved futile for she couldn't get up. "I thought that you were lying!"

"No...I've been waiting for this day..." He glared the famous Uchiha death glare at Itachi. "I've lived hating you and lived to only kill you!" Suddenly sparks started to fly from his left hand. "I have lived for this!"

Tukiko gasped as Sasuke suddenly charged at Itachi. She screamed, "No, Sasuke, don't!" But Sasuke didn't listen as he thrust his Chidori clad hand at Itachi. In a blink of an eye (though the three siblings saw it anyway), Itachi deflected the attack by grabbing Sasuke's wrist and throwing it to the side. The attack ended up blowing up a part of the wall but Itachi was uninjured.

Suddenly, Tukiko started to feel a chakra rising up. She turned her head to see that it was Naruto. The weird thing was that it didn't _feel_ like his chakra. It felt more sinister. She wondered what this chakra was when she heard Sasuke scream in pain. She saw her twin fall to the ground, holding onto his wrist. She pulled herself up slightly to get over to her brother. She took his wrist to see that it was broken. "Sasuke..."

She might not have believed that Itachi had done that. In the past, he would have never done anything to hurt either of his younger siblings. But now seeing him break Sasuke's hand, she didn't know what to think anymore. She was so confused. She couldn't believe she missed how much her older brother had changed. But why...why did he have to kill their clan? What made him change so much just so that he could test his abilities? None of this was making sense.

Tukiko heard a puff of smoke and glanced over to see what it was. To her surprise, she saw a huge toad blocking Shark guy's blade from attacking Naruto. Behind Naruto stood a white haired old man who Naruto was supposedly traveling with. Over his shoulder was a woman.

"You two don't seem to know me at all. I'm better at getting girls than they are trying to get me. It may not look like it but it's my specialty," the man said. He struck out a corny pose that he thought would look cool. "Because I, Jiraiya, will not fall to the charms of any woman!"

Everyone became silent, all of them staring at Jiraiya strangely. Tukiko felt like face-palming her forehead in frustration.

"Jiraiya-sama, you old perv..." she muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about!? That girl just winked at you and you went scampering after her! And now you're trying to look all cool and classy, Ero-sennin!" Naruto accused of the man behind him.

"Don't call me that in front of others, brat!" Jiraiya hissed at him.

"Screw that! It's those guys we should worry about!"

"So you're Jiraiya of the Legendary three Sannin," Shark guy commented.

"You know his real identity?" Naruto exclaimed.

"So it seems you broke the genjutsu on that woman," he observed, looking at the woman over the Sannin's shoulder.

Jiraiya set down the woman against the wall, glaring at the two men. "You people are low, using the Sharingan to put a genjutsu on this innocent woman just to draw me away from Naruto. Not a very manly way of doing things."Naruto and Tukiko's eyes widened. What did he mean by drawing him away from Naruto? "So you're really after Naruto." He glared at them more fiecrely.

The two gasped. They were...after Naruto? But why?

Itachi glared at Jiraiya. "So that's how Kakashi knew. You were the one to tell him..." He closed his eyes. "To abduct Naruto. Those were the orders given to us by the higher ups of our organization Akatsuki."

Tukiko gasped yet again. "Akatsuki...?"

_Why does it feel like I've heard of that name before? Where could I have heard it?_

She did feel like she had heard of that somewhere. During her travels, she might have come across that name somewhere but she wasn't sure where. Did someone ever mention that name to her before? Strange...

"Don't do it," Sasuke said. Tukiko gasped, watching her brother struggle to his feet. She stood to her feet, trying to make sure to he didn't fall. "This guy is mine! Don't get involved, Naruto, Tukiko!"

"No, Sasuke! Please don't!" Tukiko begged her brother. "You're in no condition to fight! Please don't fight!"

"Shut up, Tukiko!"

"Please, no, stop it!" Tukiko grabbed onto the fabric of Sasuke's shirt to make him stop. "Don't fight him or-"

"I said shut up!" Sasuke pushed Tukiko down with his good arm. She fell to the ground onto her bottom.

Luckily he did because Itachi suddenly kicked Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke flew down to the end of the hallway, hitting and sliding down the wall. Tukiko gasped.

"Sasuke!" Both she and Naruto exclaimed. They were about to charge in to help him but Sasuke stopped them.

"Naruto, Tukiko, I told you two to butt out! This fight is mine!" he shouted at them. He stood to his feet and charged at Itachi yet again.

Tukiko watched in horror as Sasuke tried to attack Itachi but all of it was in vain. Itachi was stronger than before, she realized, as Itachi started to kick Sasuke's butt. She felt like crying but was too shocked to do that. She never thought that she would see the day that her brothers would fight like this. None of this would have happened if they were younger and she was still around. Why did all of this have to happen? She couldn't bare to watch Sasuke getting hurt by their own brother. It was just too much.

Itachi pinned Sasuke to the wall, his hand on Sasuke's neck. Tukiko saw that but then her vision suddenly blacked out and she didn't know what happened. She was still awake so what...? Tukiko looked up at the sky to see that it was red, the black moon hanging in the background. She found herself standing next to a younger version of Sasuke. Startled, she looked down at herself to see that she was young as well; wearing the dirty clothes she used to wear when she was younger in her travels. They were in a room in their home and in front of them were her parents kneeling on the ground.

"What the? What's going on?" Her voice sounded the same age as before as well.

Sasuke turned his head to her, startled at her as well.

"What are you doing here?"

Tukiko shrugged. She didn't know what was happening. Her eyes were concentrated at her parents. It was strange to see them like this. All of a sudden, a younger version of Itachi appeared behind of their parents. Sasuke gasped in horror.

"You're weak, Sasuke," Itachi's voice echoed throughout the room. "From now on, for the next twenty-four hours, you will relive that day..."

Tukiko felt her eyes widen and her heart stop as Itachi's blade slashed down at their parents. Their blood spilled onto the wooden floor and they slumped down to the ground, dead. She felt herself scream in terror. "Mother! Father!"

The scene changed and the two of them were standing in the streets of the Uchiha compound. She and Sasuke watched as their relatives started to fall to the ground, dead, at the hands of their brother. Tukiko closed her eyes, tears gathering there, and held her hands to her ears. Her body seemed to react on its own as her and Sasuke's screams were heard. All of this was too much for her. She wasn't there when her clan died but she was starting to relive this day by Sasuke. She hated this. The images of her family falling dead, their blood spilled to the ground burned in her memory. She kept screaming, wishing all of this ended.

Sasuke and Tukiko kept reliving that day, watching their relatives die. The twenty-four hours seemed to drag on forever until it finally ended. Tukiko felt her vision come back to her, feeling her body slump to the ground. Jiraiya was holding her up from falling to the ground. Naruto's concerned blue eyes stared at her body.

"Tukiko-chan, what happened?"

Tukiko opened her mouth to respond but couldn't. She felt her vision slipping and the last thing she remembered from that day were the words that seemed to drift from Itachi over to her.

"_Go to my room to find a box...Use the key to open the box and you will find your answers..."_

That last thing said and heard, Tukiko fainted in the arms of Jiraiya.

---

So there's the chapter that everyone has been demanding! I'm just updating this as I arrive home from my nearly a week vacation. Thank god too! I missed home! I got home from a vacation from Las Vegas to San Deigo to Disneyland to Long Beach to San Francisco to here! Left last Tuesday so I really missed home.

I'm tired so good night and review!


	21. Fighting between friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 21

Tukiko felt that she had been alseep forever. That's what it seemed like when she felt a warm sensation go through her body. It seemed very comforting to her and for some reason, familiar to her. After a while, her body gained back the energy to open her eyes. Her eyes drifted open to stare at a white ceiling. Her vision was a bit blurred but it focused a bit to see a woman with blond hair in pigtails hovering over her. A scowl was on the woman's face and Tukio blinked. She knew who this woman was.

"T-Tsunade-sama?" Tukiko was a bit surprised that her voice was a bit hoarse. Her throat felt like sandpaper and she couldn't speak. She pulled her body up and she was even more surprised to see that she was lying in a hospital bed. Her head pounded a bit but it was bareable. Her eyes glanced over to Tsunade, blinking.

Tsunade tsked at her, shaking her head in disappointment. "I'm ashamed of you, brat. I thought that you would be able to handle yourself but I see that you couldn't even stay awake long enough to try to defeat your brother!"

Tukiko frowned. "I-I'm sorry. It's just...that form of Sharingan..." She had never seen that type of attack of the Sharingan before. It was strange to see it. But why did it affect her? She wasn't even hit by the attack head-on. Sasuke was the one that was fighting Itachi at the time. So how did she get into that world? Was it some sort of mental attack? She shook her head and stared up at Tsunade. "So Tsunade-sama, what are you doing in Konoha?"

"You're not gonna believe it but Baa-chan is the new Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed as he appeared by her bedside. He was grinning really wide. "I went out and brought her back to the village so that she could heal you, the teme, Kakashi-sensei, and Bushy brow!"

"New Hokage?" She stared up at the woman who was grinning embarssingly. "I thought that you didn't even want to be in Konoha, much less the Fire Country."

"Yeah, well, someone convinced me to come back," she said with a small shrug.

Tukiko blinked, raising an eyebrow. She glanced over to Naruto who was still grinning. "Naruto convinced you, didn't he?"

"You bet I did! I even learned a cool new technique during the month we were away!"

Her eyes widened. "I've been out for a _month!?_"

"Yes by what the nurses say." Tsunade sat on her bed near her. "And by what Jiraiya told me, you were fighting Itachi and he used a technique on Sasuke. He checked to see that your brother sustained mental damage and when he checked you when you were knocked out, you sustained the same damage. Mind telling me how?"

"Well...ah..." Tukiko fidgeted with the bed sheets. She wasn't sure if she should tell her that she and Sasuke had a mind connection. By what she remembered of Tsunade, when she met her when she was just eight years old, she could remember very clearly that she was always curious about some medical stuff. Since their mind connection was something of the brain, she would definitely get curious. So she shook her head. "I-I don't know. I can't remember."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, easily seeing that she was lying. She was about to accuse the girl of that when Tukiko's eyes flickered over to the bed that was next to her. She let out a relieved sigh when seeing Sasuke awake, as she was, and Sakura hugging the boy. Tsunade stopped short when seeing Tukiko frown and look down at the bedsheets. Tsunade frowned herself. She would ask Tukiko about what she was hiding but would handle that later. But for now, she would have to see the other people that Naruto was pestering to her about healing.

Tukiko saw Tsunade stand to her feet and saw her stern expression. "Well, you should be fine in just an hour or soon so that you can leave."

"What about Sasuke?" Tukiko glanced over to her brother who still seemed out of it.

"I'm afraid he'll have to stay longer."

She frowned but nodded. "Alright."

With a curt nod, Tsunade left the room with Naruto trailing behind her. Naruto gave her a big smile before he left, leaving Sasuke, Sakura and Tukiko alone in their room.

Sakura finished hugging Sasuke and noticed that Tukiko was up. She smiled and walked over to her bed. "I'm so glad that you're okay, Tukiko-chan," she said happily. "I was really worried that you were hurt."

"Don't worry. I'm fine!" Tukiko gave a big grin to show Sakura that she was feeling fine. Her body may have felt fine but her heart wasn't. She was still upset over what happened when she met Itachi again. She shook her head of that thought. No. She wasn't going to think about Itachi until later on. Tukiko glanced over to Sasuke again. "So...Is Sasuke all right?"

Sakura peeked at Sasuke at the corner of her eyes and nodded. "He should be fine like you."

She let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."

A small rumbling noise broke out right after she said that and she blushed. Sakura let out a little giggle.

"You must be hungry after being asleep for a month."

Tukiko blushed and nodded. "I guess I am."

"Would you like some apples then?"

She eagerly nodded. She needed food so badly and felt like chewing on something.

Sakura went ahead to get some apples she brought along with her and started to peel the skin off of them as she sat by Sasuke's bedside. Tukiko didn't mind because she just stared out the window. A small smile lingered on her face as she saw kids playing down in the streets below. It was kind of peaceful to see kids playing around like there was nothing in the world to bother them. It was a cute sight to see that kids didn't have to worry about anything at all except for growing up and getting strong. Kind of like the genins were doing.

_I kind of wish that I could have had a childhood like those kids though,_ she thought with a sigh. _For the past six years I've been traveling to get stronger like no one has seen before. But I ended up neglecting my childhood even if I _did_ have fun learning all kinds of stuff and meeting all sorts of people. I wonder what my life would have been like if I had stayed..._

Tukiko stopped her thoughts right there. If she had stayed in Konoha, she wouldn't even _have_ a childhood either because of the noble training and housewife stuff she would be forced to learn. What was the point of staying in Konoha for her childhood when she wouldn't have it either way?

She was wondering about all of the people she had met over the years and was too caught up to hear Sasuke's thoughts about his hatred to their brother. However she did hear the clatter of a plate breaking on the tiled floor. Tukiko glanced over to the bed beside hers and was confused to see Sakura on her feet. Her eyes connected to Sasuke's glaring eyes. It shook her up a bit and her body froze.

"S-Sasuke...?" Tukiko stepped out of bed and walked over to her brother. She sat on the bed, tilting her head to stare at him. She frowned when seeing him act like this. Grabbing his hand, she whispered, "Sasuke-chan, what's wrong?"

"Hey, what's going on?" Naruto asked when he entered the room. He was staring at Sasuke's back and at Tukiko's worrying expression. Sasuke heard Naruto enter and turned around to glare feircely at him, courtesy of the Uchiha death glare. Tukiko let out a silent gasp. Naruto was his friend and yet he was glaring their death glare at him? What was going on with Sasuke? Naruto blinked. "Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"Hey, Naruto..." Sasuke muttered, hanging his head to stare at the bed sheets.

"Wh-What?" he asked hesitantly.

"Fight me..now."

"What? No!" Tukiko exclaimed. She tugged at his hand. "You're still recovering, you idiot! Do you want to get hurt?"

"Yeah, you should listen to your sister, Sasuke," Naruto agreed.

"Shut up and fight me now!" he demanded admantly. His Sharingan spun wildly in rage. Sasuke started to get out of bed but Tukiko stopped him.

"Sasuke, don't fight Naruto right no-"

"Shut up! Stop always getting in the way!" Sasuke turned his angry gaze to her now. "I was doing fine before you ever came back so stop telling me what to do! You should have never came back to the village!"

Tukiko's grip on Sasuke's hand grew slack, her eyes wide with devastation. Sakura and Naruto gasped at them. How could Sasuke say something like that to his own _sister? _Tukiko's eye started to tear up. She abruptly stood to her feet and raced out of the room, leaving behind a trail of tears. Sakura looked between the two boys, feeling a bit teary herself but raced out of the room to follow Tukiko.

"Hey, apologize to her, teme!" Naruto was outraged. Weren't he and Tukiko siblings? Didn't he _miss_ Tukiko when she was gone for six years?! "She's only worried about you getting hurt!"

"Does it look like I care? You can't make me forgive her ever for when she left!" Sasuke stood face to face with Naruto. "So are you going to fight me or what?"

Naruto gave it a quick thought. He did want to fight Sasuke but after what happened...He smirked at him. "Fine! I'll fight you but you have to apologize to Tukiko-chan for what you said."

"Don't get so cocky." He gestured his head to the door. "Follow me." He walked out the door with Naruto right behind him.

---

When Tukiko had raced out of the room, she didn't know what to think about what Sasuke said. Tears had blinded her vision as her feet raced up the set of stairs that led to the roof. She burst through the door that exited to the roof and collasped on the side. She began to sob as she curled into a ball, hiding her face in her lap, not caring her tears were wetting her clothes. Her whole frame shook as she sobbed.

Tukiko didn't mean to run out like that but after what Sasuke said just devastated her. It hurt her so deep like he just drove a kunai into her heart. It hurt because everything he said might have been true. If Tukiko hadn't returned to the village, maybe all of this stuff that was happening might have never happened. She should have just returned to the village when she was seventeen like she had planned to long ago. Sasuke would have been better off without her. He didn't need her always getting in the way so why did she bother to return at all?

The door opened beside her but Tukiko didn't care. She just kept crying. Then she felt a presence beside her and a hand touch her bare arm.

"Tukiko-chan, are you all right?" It was Sakura. She sounded really concerned about her.

Tukiko didn't say anything, just continuing to cry.

"Please, Tukiko, I'm sure that Sasuke-kun didn't mean to say any of that stuff," she reassured her. But it was all in vain.

"He did mean all of that stuff," Tukiko muttered through her tears. "Sasuke always says things that he usually means."

Sakura opened her mouth to say otherwise but she knew that she was right. Sasuke did always say what he usually meant. So there was no way to tell Tukiko that he didn't mean to say all of that stuff. She sighed, wishing that she could help out her friend. Her friend was hurting all because of what Sasuke, her brother, said to her. What should she say to help her out?

The door opened again but this time, it was Sasuke and Naruto who passed through. Sakura gasped and watched as the two boys move farther away, facing each other as if they were about to fight. She gasped again, standing to her feet.

"What are you two doing? Don't fight!" She pleaded to them. But they ignored her as usual.

Tukiko lifted up her head and wiped away her tears to see Naruto and Sasuke getting ready to fight each other. She gasped, seeing that both of them were serious, and looking like they were about to kill each other. They weren't, were they?

Naruto let out a laugh and Sasuke glared at him.

"What's so funny?"

"Funny? No," said Naruto. "I'm just excited is all. To think that I can finally beat you."

"What did you say? Stop talking nonsense."

"I'm not going to be a loser after today, am I? I've changed from that guy you once knew me as!"

"Dobe, what are you full of yourself, huh?!"

The two continued to taunt at each other back and forth like a tennis match. Sakura and Tukiko worried that one of them would reach their breaking point and attack the other. It did reach the breaking point but out of the person they least expected it to be: Sasuke. The two boys lunged at each other and all the girls could do was watch.

Tukiko didn't want these two fight all because of some stupid thing. Weren't they like the best of friends? Although Sasuke had never admitted it, Naruto was his best friend! He was the first person he ever felt bonded to after the massacre and before she had arrived back in the village. They couldn't fight each other! Not like this. She couldn't bare to watch this. Each hit the boys landed on the other, she flinched and winced. It was painful to see that they were actually serious about all of this. They were using all the attacks they knew as if they were trying to kill the other person. Sakura was gripping at her hands, holding her breath as the battle continued. She felt the same as Tukiko.

As the girls watched Sasuke jump into the air, they watched as a clone of Naruto's started to use it's hands to rotate something in the real Naruto's hands. It was like a swirling sphere of chakra. Tukiko guessed that was the jutsu Jiraiya had taught Naruto. Tukiko looked up in the sky to see Sasuke using the Chidori and flew down at Naruto. Her and Sakura's eyes widened widely when seeing that the two were using their jutsus on each other! They _were_ trying to kill each other!

"No!" Sakura started to run into the fray to put herself in between the two. Tukiko jumped to her feet. She was going to get herself killed!

"Sakura, no!"

Sakura had just put herself in between the boys who drew ever closer to her. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready to take the impact but was surprised as her body hit the hard ground. There was a loud explosion and metal screeching. Sakura opened her eyes to see Tukiko on top of her, breathing hard. (Not like that, you pervs!) Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kakashi standing there next to them.

"T-Tukiko!"

"You idiot, you could have died!" Tukiko breathed. She had tackled Sakura to the ground before she could get hurt. She didn't need to though because Kakashi had appeared right on time to redirect the direction of the boys' jutsus. Tears were on the corner of Tukiko's eyes. She was really worried that she would have lost another friend when she saw Sakura put herself between the boys.

Tukiko got off of Sakura and helped her up to her feet. They turned to Kakashi who was staring at the two boys. They were on the top of the roof where there were water tanks situated there.

"Th-Thanks for stopping them Kakashi," Tukiko said, bowing in thanks to her sensei.

"No problem." He gave a smile to her through his mask before turning to the two boys. "Just what were you two doing? That was a bit intense for just a simple sparring match?"

Tukiko silently agreed. If they were just sparring, they would have never used those fatal jutsus on each other!

Sasuke had just pulled out his hand from the water tank and water burst through the open hole. Kakashi appeared on the top of the water tank.

"You know, you need to watch your superiority complex, Sasuke," he told him. "Tukiko doesn't have a problem with it so why do you?"

"Don't compare me to her!" Sasuke hissed at Kakashi. He glared his worst at his teacher. "I am sick and tired of people comparing the two of us. We are not the same!"

"Oh, so you think using the Chidori against your own comrade differs the both of you?" Kakashi retorted. "Were you trying to kill Naruto? Where did this behavior even come from?"

Sasuke glared at him one more time before he backflipped off of the building. Tukiko watched him with a heavy heart, not even trying to make a move to follow him. She didn't even feel like crying after hearing all of the things he said.

_So Sasuke doesn't like how people compare us..._

Tukiko bit her lip, her shoulders slumping. She should have known. Although the two of them were identical twins, they were not the same. They had the same habits, the same likes, the same face...He must have been tired of being compared to her at some point. Her, the good twin...She who would never do anything wrong and try to protect her friends...Even if they were the same, they were nothing alike. Right now, she was feeling the anger of her brother of being weak and helpless. Compared to her and Naruto, who had gone so far to be strong, he viewed himself as weak when next to them. This was one difference of them. Tukiko didn't care for power so long as she could protect her friends. Sasuke only wanted power so that he could kill their brother. They were far different from each other, she knew.

She sighed. "Kakashi-sensei, is it all right if I go home now?"

_I'm tired of all of this drama,_ she added to herself.

Kakashi nodded. "All right. Go home and get some rest. And don't worry about Sasuke. I'll talk to him."

"Thanks." Tukiko gave him a tired smile and nod before she vanished from the building. At her top speed, she raced off of the hospital roof and leapt off of each building. She didn't care as her feet was treated roughly as she landed on each roof. She didn't care. All she wanted was to be alone. But as she reached one abandoned roof building, she stopped. Her feet landed on the ground of the roof, her eyes closing. "Okay, come on out. I know you're there."

"Heh. So you noticed." Four people appeared in front of Tukiko. She kept a neutral face as they smirked at her. There were three boys and one girl. They wore a strange outfit that Tukiko would know anywhere. The one with purplish hair stepped forward. "I would have never known that Orochimaru wanted us to bring back a _girl_ who looks like a boy."

"What do you want?" Tukiko said coldly, ignoring that they just insulted her gender like everyone else. "Did Orochimaru send you to get me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did," a guy with six arms said to her.

"Get lost." Tukiko opened her eyes to reveal her blazing Sharingan. She was in no mood to be pestered by Orochimaru's subordinates right now. "I won't go to that man no matter what you say."

"We aren't asking for you to come with us. We're _demanding_ you to," said a girl with red hair. She smirked. "You have no choice in the matter, brat."

She sighed, tired of all of this. All she wanted to do was go home and rest but noooo! These people just wanted to make her day even more difficult. "Look, I really don't want to fight right now. I have no need to go to Orochimaru because I don't need that power he's offering. Go get my twin brother instead. _He's_ the one who wants power to get revenge."

The four glanced at each other and the first guy smirked.

"Not a bad idea. We'll do just that."

Tukiko's eyes widened as she realized what she just said. Her hand was in front of her mouth in shock.

"No, wait! I didn't mean-"

But it was too late. The four Oto ninjas vanished from her sight to who knew where.

Tukiko stood there frozen as they left. She slid down to the ground on her knees as all energy seemed to leave her body. She groaned, putting her hands to her face in shame and regret. Those words didn't mean to leave her mouth. She didn't mean to say any of that! Now they were listening to her and would go after Sasuke instead. If they asked Sasuke to go with him, he would certainly listen to him. She shook her head, new tears slipping through her closed eyes.

_Oh, no...What have I done?_

_---_

Uh-oh, trouble going on in Konoha lately. What's Tukiko to do now that Sasuke has the probably of leaving the village? If you guys want to know badly, you'll just have to review.

Please review! Oh, and you guys should know that Friday will probably be my new update day because school is starting on Monday for me! Ugh! I don't want to go to school! Summer had to go by so fast! This is sad. I know school's good for you but I'm transferring to a new school when I'm a sophmore and I'm scared! Did I mention it's a charter school too? Ugh! Wish me luck through your reviews! I'm going to need it.


	22. Sorrowful partings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I would include this chapter in the series if I owned it.

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 22

It was dark at night as Tukiko finally started to walk back to the empty Uchiha compound. Her eyes were glued to the ground in sadness as she thought back to the day. A lot of things had occured that day and none of them were good. First it was Sasuke telling her that she should have never come back then the hospital rooftop fight and now it was those Oto guys going after her brother to take him to Oto. But it was all Sasuke's choice if he wanted to go with them. It didn't matter since he would just go anyway. Why, oh, why did she have to suggest for them to go after Sasuke?

After she had said those words, Tukiko had searched all over the village for Sasuke to warn him of the Oto ninjas. She wasn't sure where he was as she desperately raced around the village in search of her brother. Not even their mind link helped because something was blocking her thoughts to him. This only made her more frantic to find her brother. She had searched all over but soon grew tired. She had checked everywhere Sasuke would be at and lost the need to find him. He didn't want to be found. The sun had started to set so Tukiko had done the sensible thing and decided to go home and see if he was there. She doubted it but she could always hope.

Tukiko had reached her home only to find the lights out. She looked up at their bedroom window, only to see it dark like the rest of the house. Shaking her head, she entered her home. Closing the door behind her, she saw no sign of her brother's shoes there. That meant he wasn't home yet. Her whole body was tired and she didn't feel hungry. Her feet started to take her upstairs to their room so that she could sleep. All she wanted was rest. She entered their room, only the sounds of her feet hitting the floor sounded the air. Going to the dresser with the tv on top of it, Tukiko was about to pull out her pajamas when her eyes stared at the Team 7 photograph and the picture of her and Sasuke together face down on the wood. She wondered why they were like that when before they weren't like that at all. Her eyes glanced over next to the picture frame of her and Sasuke to only gasp. Next to the frame was a familiar weapon that she had gotten Sasuke so long ago. It was the windmill shuriken that she had gotten Sasuke before she ran away. The one with his name engraved on it. It was a shock to see it there out in the open.

Before, Sasuke had always told her that he carried that small shuriken with him where ever he went because it was important to him. It was the first weapon that he had ever recieved from a family member and he kept it with him always. To see it now, out in the open, could only mean...!

_No no no! No, Sasuke!_

Tukiko began to panic. She pulled out the dresser drawers and started to hurriedly grabbing her girl clothes and started to put them on. She went to her window as she pulled down her tanktop and raced down the streets of the compound towards the village gates nearby. The drum that had replaced her heart beated wildly, sounding her ears and hers alone. Her feet slapped away on the hard concrete side walk as she raced to the village gates.

She knew that Sasuke had chosen his fate. He was leaving the village to pursue Orochimaru. He wasn't even going to speak to her about this choice! How could he-Why is he- All of her thoughts were incoherent. Only one thing sounded through the mess of her mind.

_Sasuke is going to betray the village! He's going to leave me!_

That thought alone made her heart tear to pieces. She didn't want Sasuke to leave to get stronger. She didn't want him to make the same mistake she had so long ago. He was leaving behind friends...comrades...family...Didn't he care about any of that? Long ago, Tukiko had left because there was nothing in the village to offer her the dream she so wanted to achieve. She was going to return one day, she told herself. That situation was exactly the same as what Sasuke was doing now except for one thing: he was never coming back as he was. Never. Orochimaru was going to take away her brother from her forever if she didn't get to him in time. Because if Sasuke left, the next time she would probably see him would be entirely different. Orochimaru would be in her brother's body and her brother would be no more. She already lost her parents and her family. She didn't want to lose the only person who knew her inside and out...She didn't want to lose her brother...her best friend...

Tukiko had reached the only path that could lead Sasuke out of the village at this time of night. Her breath came out short, sobs close to wracking her body. She stared straight ahead as she saw Sasuke standing there with-to her surprise-Sakura. Her eyes widened as she watched Sasuke set down an unconsious Sakura on the stone bench nearby. He must have noticed that Tukiko had arrived because as soon as he set Sakura down, he stood to his feet to face her, his face neutral. Tukiko's eyes glanced to his shoulder to see a backpack strap. Her heart sank at the sight.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Sasuke asked her.

"Sh-Shouldn't you?" Tukiko retorted, her voice cracking at the end. She gave a weak smile at him. "You know it's hard for me to sleep if you're not really around. I had that problem a lot when I was traveling. I could never sleep peacefully because you weren't there to protect me from my nightmares."

"But you can sleep. Just go back."

The smile fell from her lips. Tukiko hung her head, feeling sadness wrack her body to the very core.

"W-Why do you want to do this, Sasuke?" she asked in a quiet tone. "Do you-Do you really want to leave the village just to go to Orochimaru? To get that power you so desperately want?"

"You know that's what I've been striving for."

"So you're throwing away your happiness-your _friends-_so that you can get that stupid power!? You want to leave so many people who care for you _just_ so you can kill Itachi?"

"What friends? What people?" Sasuke glared at her, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No one in the village would care about me. No one really knows what its like for me to be in pain, day in and day out. I hate that pain, seeing everyone with their friends and being so happy while I'm suffering. No one knows what its like."

"That's a lie! You _do_ have people who care about you! Your friends do-"

"They aren't my friends. They're only people I know," Sasuke snapped at her. "They only care about themselves."

"Stop saying that! You have at least one person who would know what its like! To see people all around you being happy while you're suffering."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

Tukiko lifted her head so that Sasuke could see the tears that were falling silently from her eyes. Her hands gripped at her white skirt tightly.

"Me. You have me." She sniffled, staring into her identical onyx eyes from her twin. "Sasuke, have you forgotten? You're not alone. You were never alone. All that time, you had me, your sister. I've been with you no matter where I was while I was traveling. During the whole time I traveled, I couldn't stop thinking about you and wishing that I could go home to see you and Aniki again. I was so happy to see you again after six years right before the Chunin Exams started that I would explode from all of that happiness." She laughed, her tears shining from the moonlight above. It died down. "Stop thinking that you're alone. I'm here for you."

Silence set in after that. Sasuke had hung his head so Tukiko couldn't see his eyes for his bangs were shielding them. Tukiko was hoping with all her heart that would convince him to stay. What he said next hurt her.

"No. You were never there for me." Sasuke lifted his head up to stare at her but it held no warmth. None of the warmth that Tukiko was used to when he usually stared at her. "You had left me alone for six _years_. Where were you when Itachi was acting strange? Where were you when he had killed our family? Where were you when he told me to hate him?! I was all alone during those years, Tukiko. You have no idea how much all of that hurt to be alone. I had no one and spoke to no one when I was recovering from the massacre! You...You were out gallavanting around the nations while I was all alone, stuck in this stupid village. So don't say that you were with me. You never were."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry about all of that stuff! But Sasuke, don't you know that I was with you the entire time?" She shook her head, her tears continuing to flow. "Every day of every year, I was wishing you were safe and happy! I was wishing that I was there by you. I'm your twin. No one knows you better than me! Do you know how much all of this is going to affect me? You leaving the village for a man I hate at the bottom of my heart is going to hurt me so deep, I might never recover! If you leave through those gates right now and don't return, not only the seal I had gained to protect you from go to you since you have the most chakra but I will end up emotionally scarred for life!"

"Stop being overdramatic."

"I'm not lying!" Tukiko began to shake in sadness and sorrow. "The moment you take the seal from me when the twenty-four hours are up, I'm going to be in so much emotional pain. It will probably even drive me to the point of insanity or suicide. It will feel like you had just died in front of me and I was the one to cause your death. It will be like the guilt from killing you would eat me alive so that I might end up killing myself. Is leaving and gaining that seal really worth it?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, not responding to that question. Tukiko wanted him to answer it. Did he really want to cause her so much pain by leaving and taking that seal? Did he want to do that to her, his sister and twin? Because if he did, he would gain the seal but lose the closest person he would ever relate to.

Tukiko didn't see it coming. Sasuke had moved from his position to appear in front of her. She had just gasped when she felt a fist connect to her stomach. Her eyes went wide as the pain wracked her body. A name left her lips as the pain caused her to black out.

"Sasuke-kun..."

She blacked out and went limp in Sasuke's arms. He caught her, feeling the tears on his shoulder soak through his clothes.

"I'm sorry, Tukiko-chan. But I need to do this. I need to get this power in order to protect you from him, even if I'm going to be causing you so much pain. I'm so sorry."

Sasuke picked up Tukiko's limp form bridal style and brought her over to where Sakura was on the bench. He placed her on the ground, making sure that she was leaning against the bench in a comfortable postion. He put her hands on her lap in a folded postion, and placed a flower he had with him. It was a flower that Tukiko had given to him when they were younger. She had just come home from her first flower arrangment class and raced to him. She had then presented a plastic flower to him for when the teacher had given it to her for a job well done. He promised he would keep it forever and he did until this day. He placed it in her hands and stood to his feet. Glancing down at his sister in sadness, Sasuke walked away from her forever.

---

*crying softly from this* ;_; Oh my gosh, this is probably the saddest chapter I have ever written. I wanted it to be dramatic but not this dramatic. While I was typing this, I was watching the part where Sakura tries to stop Sasuke from leaving like in this chapter. I always watch episodes while I type so I won't miss a thing. When Sakura was begging him, sadness and sorrow (the piano piece) started to play and it just pushed me over to crying. So if this makes any of you guys cry too, then I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, I know it's Thursday and a day earlier for me to update but I want to see if there's any response to this chapter.

Review please


	23. Promises

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wouldn't have made the last chapter sad if it weren't for it though.

**The Uchiha sister**

Chapter 23

_A soft melody drifted through the halls of the Uchiha home. Tukiko and Sasuke were in their room playing when they heard this melody. They had grown curious at the soft melody and went to investigate the noise like the five year olds they were. They searched through the whole house to find the noise but found none. Tukiko had entered through to the formal room where she guessed the melody was coming from. She slid open the door to see their mother sitting at the piano, her hands gliding across the white keys. She titled her head._

_"Mother, what are you doing?"_

_The music stopped as Mikoto turned around to face her youngest children. She smiled at the two._

_"Playing, honey."_

_"Playing what?" Sasuke asked as he entered the room. The two walked over to their mother and sat on each side of her. Their wide curious eyes stared up at her._

_"A song I wrote when I was younger." She turned back to the keys, letting her hands glide over them. The soft music sounded the room again. Tukiko and Sasuke closed their eyes with a smile on their face, swaying to the soft melody that calmed them. Mikoto smiled at how her children were quiet for the song. It was a precious sight to see._

_"It's very pretty, Mother," Tukiko commented, resting her head on her mother's arm._

_"Thank you, sweetie." Mikoto had finished the song and let her fingers hover over the piano. She smiled at her two children. "Would you like to hear another?" The two eagerly nodded. They loved the music that their mother was playing. "But can you two sing along? I'll play the music while you two sing the words."_

_"What do you mean?" The two asked simoltanously._

_"This song has words to it."_

_The two twins looked at each other and nodded._

_"Okay, we'll sing!"_

_Mikoto smiled yet again at her two children and lowered the song sheet so that they could see the words. They leaned up to see the words and silently agreed that Tukiko would sing the first part to the song. She was the one who liked to sing between the two. Mikoto knew that Tukiko was going to sing first so she started to play the song._

_(__Tukiko__, __**Sasuke, **__**Together**_) (A/N: Remember they are only kids so Sasuke _does_ have the same voice tone as Tukiko)

_What I thought wasn't mine_

_In the light_

_Was one of a kind,_

_A precious pearl_

_**When I wanted to cry**_

_**I couldn't cause I**_

_**Wasn't allowed**_

_**Gomenasai for everything**_

_**Gomenasai, I know I let you down**_

_**Gomenasai till the end**_

_**I never needed a friend**_

_**Like I do now**_

_What I thought wasn't all_

_So innocent_

_Was a delicate doll_

_Of porcelain_

_**When I wanted to call you**_

_**And ask you for help**_

_**I stopped myself**_

_**Gomenasai for everything**_

_**Gomenasai, I know I let you down**_

_**Gomenasai till the end**_

_**I never needed a friend**_

_**Like I do now**_

_What I thought was a dream_

_A mirage_

_Was as real as it seemed_

_A privilege_

_**When I wanted to tell you**_

_**I made a mistake**_

_**I walked away**_

_**Gomenasai, for everything**_

_**Gomenasai, Gomenasai,**_

_**I never needed a friend,**_

_**Like I do now**_

_**Gomenasai, I let you down**_

_**Gomenasai, Gomenasai, Gomenasai,**_

_**Gomenasai till the end**_

_**I never needed a friend**_

_**Like I do now**_

_Tukiko and Sasuke smiled up at their mother as she finished playing. She smiled back down at them._

_"You two sing very well," Mikoto commented._

_"Thank you, Mother," they said to her._

_She laughed at how they said that at the same time, hugging both of her children with both arms._

_"I love you two." Mikoto kissed the top of their heads lovingly. "Never forget that and never let anything seperate you two. It would break my heart if you were seperated."_

_The twins hugged their mother back with the same pressure._

_"We love you too, Mother."_

_---_

Tukiko got back to her consiouness, feeling someone shaking her shoulder. She groaned, opening her eyes to the dim light. The first thing she saw was a chunin facing her. For a second, Tukiko wondered where she was instead of at home but then she gasped. The memories of last night came back to her, driving tears to her again.

_No! No, no, no, no, this can't be happening!_

She jumped to her feet, looking around. It was already early morning, the sun starting to break through the clouds. Tukiko felt her body shake and gripped her hands into fists but stopped. There was something in her hands. Glancing down, she was shocked to see the flower that she had given to Sasuke after her first flower arrangement class. He had kept it all the years and promised he would keep it forever. She sobbed, throwing the flower to the ground. How could he? How could he break so many promises in one night? She dropped back to the ground on her knees, crying. How dare he do this to her?

"Tukiko-chan?"

Tukiko looked to the side to see Sakura sitting on the stone bench, tears in her eyes as well.

"What's wrong with you two?" One of the chunins asked from behind the pile of documents he held.

Tukiko shook her head, tears falling to the ground while Sakura was sobbing.

"S-Sasuke-kun...He-He defected f-from the v-village!"

The two chunins eyes widened.

"What did you say?!"

Sakura nodded and started to explain through her tears about what happened. She explained that she tried to beg Sasuke to stay but he didn't listen to her and went off to go with the Oto ninjas to Orochimaru. The chunins asked why Tukiko was there but Sakura didn't know.

Tukiko was numb all over. She didn't hear that they were asking her because of all the sadness iner. She felt so betrayed right now. Sasuke knocked her out so that he could go to the man she hated. It was true. He didn't care that he was going to cause her so much pain later on. He would give up his only sister for the power he craved for so much. He really didn't care about her.

"Tukiko-chan? Tukiko-chan!" Sakura started to shake Tukiko's shoulder to get her out of her reverie. She didn't respond at all. All she did was stare at the ground, no expression on her face. Sakura thought that Tukiko truly did look like Sasuke when she was like that. It only made Sakura cry more. "Tukiko-chan, please snap out of it."

One of the chunins, Izumo, sighed. "She's not going to snap out of it. We'll inform Hokage-sama immidiately about this."

Sakura nodded. The chunins started to walk away towards the Hokage building. Sakura glanced down at the frozen girl on the floor. It was breaking her heart right now. She had never seen Tukiko look like this. She had always seen the girl smiling and laughing and with multiple expressions unlike her brother. But now, seeing Tukiko look this expressionless and unresponsive, made her think that Tukiko must have tried to convince her brother as well but failed. If she failed, Sasuke's own twin, that meant neither of them would be able to convince him to come home. She sighed, grabbing Tukiko's arm.

"Come on, Tukiko-chan. You can't sit here all day."

Tukiko didn't respond.

She sighed again. She would have to take Tukiko home since she wasn't responding at all. So she pulled Tukiko to her feet and held onto her arm. "Come on, Tukiko-chan. I'll be by you, okay? So that you're not alone."

Sakura didn't expect Tukiko to respond so she started to pull the girl around the village. She needed something to distract the both of them from the thought of Sasuke. Sakura knew that it hurt her heart to see Sasuke leave and even when she confessed to him. But she knew overall it was hurting Tukiko the most. To see her brother...her twin...her only living relative left in the world leave the village even if she tried to convince him to stay must have been breaking her heart. Last night, when Sasuke told her that she didn't know what it was like to have no family left, she was going to understand it when seeing Tukiko cry when her brother is gone. Sasuke was Tukiko's twin brother and the most important person to her. She cared about Sasuke and Tukiko and didn't want to see Tukiko cry because her brother left.

The two wandered around the village as the sun had risen into the sky. Sakura didn't know what to do because Tukiko wasn't responding to her no matter what she said. Both of them were thinking about Sasuke. It was too hard to think about anything else. About a few minutes later, they found themselves at the village gates yet again. Sakura stared ahead to see Shikarmaru, Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru, Neji, Naruto, and Lee on his crutches gathered there. Her green eyes widened and realized that the Hokage must have gathered them together so that they could retrieve Sasuke. They turned their backs to head out but she shouted for them to stop as she ran over to them, pulling Tukiko with her.

"Sakura-chan! Tukiko-chan?" Naruto asked, turning around to see Sakura and Tukiko. He was a bit worried when seeing the sullen expressions on both of the girls.

Shikamaru turned to the girls, frowning at the both of them. "I heard the story from the Hokage. I'm sorry but I can't take either of you on this mission. You, and even Tukiko, couldn't convince Sasuke, right?" Naruto let out a silent gasp. He didn't know that. "It looks like we'll have to force him to come home then. I'm sorry, Sakura, Tukiko, but there isn't anything either of you can do now."

Sakura hung her head while Tukiko was still expressionless but her grip on her white skirt tightened.

"Wait, does that mean you already met Sasuke?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "Even you, Tukiko-chan?"

Sakura began to shake and cry of sadness. Tukiko, however, was thinking back on last night and her eyes started to bleed red.

"Naruto, I'm begging you...Please, please bring Sasuke-kun back home," Sakura cried, her tears falling. Naruto looked surprised at the tears. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop him! Tukiko-chan tried too but we couldn't convince him to stay. Tukiko-chan couldn't even stop him and she's his sister! She won't speak to anyone now and won't respond to anything. The only person who can save Sasuke-kun now is you, Naruto. Only you..."

Naruto stared at Tukiko, who's red eyes were spinning wildly but he could see the tears leaking down the corner of her eyes. He gave a small smile.

"Gosh, Sakura-chan. You must really like Sasuke, huh?" He looked to the side, his eyes closed. "I see how much pain you and Tukiko-chan must be in. I can understand."

Sakura began to sob by this point and Tukiko had to bite her lip from crying out. Sakura's grip on Tukiko's arm tightened but neither girl cared.

"Naruto...Thank you."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, Tukiko-chan! I'll bring back Sasuke to the both of you!" Naruto smiled widely while giving a thumbs up. "That's the promise of a lifetime!"

Tukiko gasped as she stared at Naruto. He seemed so sure of himself...Like he was sure that he could bring home Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto. Do you really think that you can keep that promise?" Kiba teased the boy.

"I never go back on my words! That's my ninja way!" He responded back.

"N-Naruto...?" The group turned to the small timid voice that was coming out of Tukiko. She stepped towards Naruto, slightly shaking. "C-Can you give this to-to Sasuke for me?" She reached out for Naruto's hand and placed something in it. Naruto and Neji were surprised to see that it was the bracelet that Sasuke had given to her when they were six. Naruto stared at Tukiko. She gave a smile. "T-Tell him that h-he isn't alone. That he'll never be alone...please." Then she turned to Neji with the same smile. "Be safe...Neji-kun."

Naruto stared at the bracelet and gripped it. He grinned at her. "Okay! I promise." He pocketed the bracelet and pumped a fist in the air. "Alright! Let's get going!"

Shikamaru frowned. "Well, we've wasted a bit of time so let's hurry."

"Right!" the four team members said to their leader. Then the five turned their backs to them and Lee, stepping out of the village to go rescue their friend. Tukiko wiped away her tears, her eyes blacking out to their original color. She really hoped that the five would succed in their mission where she and Sakura failed.

"Did you see that? When Naruto-kun said that with the 'nice guy' pose?" Lee said to them. He smiled at the both of them. "He'll keep his promise. This will all go well." He gave them the nice guy pose as well, smiling. Sakura and Tukiko smiled at him, knowing that he was probably right.

Once the five ninjas were out of sight, Lee, Sakura, and Tukiko decided to go back into the village. Right now, all they could do was wait. Lee had to go back to the hospital to get some rest so they were about to part ways when Tukiko suddenly gasped. She raised a hand to her half of the curse mark. It burned under her touch and she felt like clawing it out.

When the three of them were walking back to the village, Tukiko had started to feel a burning sensation on her neck where the curse mark was. She felt a bit uncomfortable with it but it was bareable so she ignored it. But with each step she took, it started to increase until it felt like fire on her skin. She fell to her knees, her eyes squeezed shut with pain radiating her whole body and her hand covering the burning mark. She couldn't hear Sakura asking her what was wrong as her whole body burned. Her blood was boiling hot until she couldn't take the pain. She started to scream in agony. None of her thoughts were asking why this was happening and instead only focused on the pain. It hurt so much. It felt like a part of her was being ripped from her soul and into two. All of this...it felt like she was being tortured until she was going to die. She drifted out of consiousness but she kept writhing on the floor, screaming.

"What is happening?" Lee asked, shocked that Tukiko was screaming.

"I-I don't know!" Sakura was shaking by now, not sure what to do. It was horrible to see Tukiko be in so much pain and so suddenly. It looked like she was out but even in her sleep she was screaming in agony. She didn't know what to do or how to respond. She had to do something though. Sakura put Tukiko's arm over her shoulder and stood up to her feet. She turned to Lee, a scared look on her face. "Lee, we have to get Tukiko-chan to the hospital. She's in pain and the medics will know what to do."

Lee nodded. "All right. Go on ahead and I'll inform the Hokage about this."

Sakura nodded and started to run to the hospital, Tukiko still writhing in pain. She bit her lip at her teammate. First Sasuke and now Tukiko...Why was all of this happening?

_I can't worry about that now! I have to get Tukiko to the hospital!_

Determined to help her friend, she raced to the hospital in order to help her friend from the pain that was suddenly wracking her very being.

---

Yeah, I know. You all want to kill me for leaving it there. I had to since it seemed very dramatic! The next chapter is where some stuff about Tukiko dying and stuff will be answered. Oh, and just so you guys know, even though it hasn't been twenty-four hours for them (since they seperated at night time and it's only noon), it happens earlier because the Sound four had Sasuke take that pill thingy that would make him go to a near death state so that he could enter the Second level of the curse mark. That's why the mark is reacting on the both of them. Thought that you should know.

Ugh, I'm so tired! There is not enough hours in the day for me to sleep now that I'm back at school. I love my school but it's soo long.

Enough with my whining and time for you guys to please review!


	24. Hospitals

Disclaimer: Oh my god, I don't own Naruto because I don't enjoy the suffering I'm putting Tukiko through.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 24

Sakura sat outside in one of the hospital hallways, sitting outside of Tukiko's room. She was leaning against the wall, watching as medics rushed in and out of the room. She was waiting impatiently, worried for the girl inside of the room, writhing in pain.

She had reached the hospital and the medics were shocked at the screaming girl Sakura had with her. One of them had placed a hand on Tukiko's forehead only to find her burning up. They reacted quickly. They rushed her to a room immidiately and started to check her vitals. What they found shocked even them. Tukiko had a high fever (104 F. and rising) and saw that her vitals were dropping dangerously. They all rushed to stablize her condition but had problems. For one thing, Tukiko was thrashing around in her sleep and wouldn't sit still. Not to mention she was screaming and refused to let any of them near her. The medics all tried to do something because if they didn't, Tukiko would end up dying.

As all of them were trying to figure out what to do, Tsunade had come to the scene and immidiately took control. She ordered a few of them to tie down Tukiko to the bed so that she wouldn't squirm around. They did what they were told but Tukiko made it difficult. A few minutes later, when Tukiko was safely tied to the bed, she was still thrashing her head around as if she were trying to escape. Tsunade had to end up putting some kind of drug that calmed her down and wouldn't let her thrash around. It worked. Later, Tsunade had to try to stablize Tukiko before she got any worse. It was hard though, because for some reason, Tukiko's chakra was reacting violently with the curse mark on her neck. All of this just made it hard for her to work with but she was determined not to let Tukiko die.

That was hours ago and Tsunade was still in that room trying to stablize Tukiko. Sakura grew worried each hour that passed and wished there was something she could do to help. One of her teammates was probably dying and there was nothing she could do. That shocked Sakura. If she lost one of her teammates...one of her friends, it would just break her. First it was Sasuke, who ran away from the village, now it was his sister, who was probably going to be on her deathbed soon. Sakura wished that Naruto would hurry up and bring Sasuke back home. He needed to see Tukiko if she was going to die...just one last time. Earlier, Kakashi had come to the hospital asking where Tsunade was. Sakura told him that she was trying to heal Tukiko. Then Kakashi asked where Naruto and Sasuke were. She told him that Sasuke left the village and some of the genins and Shikamaru were on a mission to get him. All of that had happened just yesterday. Shocked, Kakashi told her to tell Tsunade that he was going to go after them. Then he set out to bring home Naruto and Sasuke.

Another hour passed. Sakura was biting her lip and jumped as Tukiko's agnoized scream sounded from the room. It sounded so horrible and heart wrenching. She was in so much pain. So for two more hours, she sat there wondering what was going on with Tukiko.

---

Tukiko writhed with pain coursing through her body. She wanted the pain to desperately stop. Anything would do!

_Just make this pain stop! I don't care if I have to die! Just make all of this stop!_

For as long as she lived, she had never felt pain this intense. All of this was too much for her! She would even die just to let it end. This was even worse than when she was in that Sharingan genjutsu her brother forced her into. That was mental pain that she had experianced back then. Right now, though, she was experiancing physical and emotional pain. She was still upset with Sasuke leaving and her body was aching so much. When would all of this end?

Suddenly, the pain stopped for just a moment. One minute Tukiko felt her lying on a bed and the next she found herself standing in a dark abyss. Her feet were planted on the solid darkness. She was so confused. Where was she?

"Hello?" she called out. Her voice echoed through the dark, reverberated as if there were walls around. She ran a hand through her hair, too confused. "Where am I?"

Just as Tukiko was wondering where the heck she was, a figure appeared in the distance. A spark of hope flickered in her and she ran to catch up with the figure. "Excuse me? Hey, stop!" She kept running and running to catch up with the person but found herself not getting any closer. She ran faster to see if she could get to the person but couldn't. It was like she was running in place. "Hey, wait up!" She kept calling the figure to get him to stop but it wouldn't work. Tears of frustration grew at the corner of her eyes. "I'm begging you, stop!"

That did it. The figure paused in his walking and turned half around. Tukiko stopped running, feeling her feet come to a halt. Her eyes widened to a wide fraction. A name left her lips as she felt teary again.

"_Sasuke..._"

Sasuke didn't respond to his name. He blinked at her before glaring at her and turned around. He started to walk away. Tukiko gasped, calling out his name, running to catch up with him. She didn't want her brother to walk away from her. She continued to call out his name but he wouldn't turn around nor stop. Her tears kept falling. Why wouldn't Sasuke stop?

"I said stop!" she screamed at him out of frustration.

Sasuke stopped again. This time, Tukiko had gotten fairly close to Sasuke to grab his arm. She started to tug at his hand, crying and smiling. "Sasuke, let's go home." She pulled at his hand and pulled him into one direction. However, Sasuke wouldn't budge. She tugged again, trying to get him to move. "Sasuke, come on. Let's go home to Konoha."

He responded by flinching and falling to his knees, clutching his chest. Tukiko gasped, kneeling by his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder and asked what was wrong. Sasuke began to cough violently only making Tukiko more distressed. She glanced down at her brother. What was wrong with him? She made Sasuke lay back and gasped in horror as she saw the blood there. What was even scarier was that Sasuke suddenly fell limp and unmoving. His chest wasn't even rising and falling!

_No!_

Tukiko leaned down to Sasuke's chest to see if she could hear a heartbeat. He had none. The shock of not hearing a heartbeat sank in slowly. He didn't have a pulse. He was dead. Sobs started to wreck through her chest. Oh no, Sasuke was dead! Her twin brother was dead. How did he die? He was fine just a few minutes ago. She lifted a hand up to wipe away her tears but stopped when seeing a color on her hands. With eyes wide, she stared down to her hands to see blood all over her hands. They weren't even her blood. It was Sasuke's!

"No, no, no..." She kept repeating this, shaking her head. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening! Sasuke couldn't be dead. She refused to believe it! "Sasuke, who did this to you?" she whispered to no one in particular. She didn't expect an answer but she got one.

"You did," a raspy whisper vibrated through the darkness. Tukiko shot her head up, staring in horror as Sasuke's body was sitting up, his blank dead eyes staring at her. Blood was sliding down the corner of his lips. Tukiko was too speechless to say anything. "You were the one to kill me, Tukiko. You killed me."

"No...No!" Tukiko refused to believe it. She couldn't believe it. She didn't kill her brother. She didn't kill her best friend!

That thought must have triggered something. Because one moment she was sitting by Sasuke's side, hearing him say that she killed her, the next she felt the floor shatter into millions of shards beneath her. She screamed as she fell through the floor and down into the darkness. She felt herself falling and falling. Her heart was beating wildly, too loud to hear her screams. Looking below her, Tukiko saw a red sea, three tomoe shapes floating. As she approached closer to the sea, the tomoes began to spin and meld together until it formed something that resembled a three blade fuma shuriken, a circle connecting them near the black pupil. She screamed as she fell into the sea. She held her breath until she swam up to the surface but as she swam, she couldn't seem to reach the surface. Why couldn't she reach the surface? As time passed, Tukiko couldn't seem to reach it before she inevitably gave up.

_I'll never be able to reach it. I might as well as give in._

She obeyed to her thoughts, closing her eyes. Her eyes closed and the last thing she saw before she drifted out of this world was that weird symbol on the red sea, the fuma blades swirling around dangerously in an eye.

---

Tukiko felt herself getting back to the real world, hearing hushed voices speaking all around her. She kept her eyes closed, hearing the conversation that went around her.

"So they failed to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, huh?" a female voice said.

"Yes. Now it looks like that his twin sister is the last Uchiha in Konoha," said another female voice.

"I know. I hope that Hokage-sama doesn't let her leave so suddenly. She needs to be watched if she's anything like her brothers."

"Do you think that she is going to leave once she finds out about her brother?" the first voice said in worry.

"I hope not but since she and Sasuke are twins, she's probably going to follow in his footsteps."

Tukiko refused to hear any more of this. She opened her eyes to see the sunlight that entered her room. Her body automatically responded by sitting up but she groaned at the pain that emitted from her whole being. It didn't hurt as much as before but it still hurt. There were gasps around the room and a woman pushed her down to lay down on the bed.

"Stay still! You're still recovering!" a woman dressed in a white medic uniform gently told her.

Tukiko said, "I don't care!" but no sound came out of her throat. Only her lips moved to the words. Shocked, she raised a hand to her lips, wondering why she couldn't speak. She sat up, ignoring the medics rushing out of the room to get Tsunade. She tried to speak again but no sound came out. Her eyes went wide at the revelation.

_Why can't I speak?_

"So you're awake." Tukiko glanced up to see Tsunade standing there with her arms folded, a scowl on her face. She blinked at her and tried to speak. Again, no sound came out of her throat. Her hand snaked up to her throat, touching the base. Why couldn't she speak? "What, Tukiko? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Tsunade expected for Tukiko to retort that she could talk but was only shocked to see tears bordering her eyes. Tukiko's lips moved to say, "_I can't. There's something wrong with my voice._" and that made Tsunade concerned.

"You can't say anything?"

Tukiko shook her head, her tears falling for the millionth time in a few days.

Tsunade saw that she wasn't joking. Alerted, she stood at Tukiko's bedside and moved her hand away from her throat. Tukiko didn't object as Tsunade placed a glowing green hand to her throat. A calming sensation passed through her body. For a few minutes, she let Tsunade use her jutsu to determine what exactly was wrong with her voice. She finished, pulling away her hand. Tukiko stared up at Tsunade's face, seeing something grave set into her features. She let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed.

"And here I thought there could nothing be more wrong with her body," Tsunade muttered to herself.

_What do you mean?_ Tukiko moved her lips to say what she asked.

Tsunade opened her eyes, staring down at Tukiko sadly.

"I'm sorry to say this but Tukiko, from this day forth, you are mute."

Tukiko gaped at Tsunade. Did she just hear the words that came out of her mouth correctly? There was no way she could be mute. How could she be mute? She was fine just a few hours ago...right? She opened her mouth to say something but realized that she couldn't. Not anymore. She could never speak a single word ever again.

_H-How did this happen?_ She mouthed to the medic.

"It might have happened when your chakra was reacting with the curse mark on your neck," Tsunade explained, folding her arms. "Kakashi explained to me that you weren't allowed to be away from your brother for more than a day. He also told me that since Sasuke had the most chakra between the two of you, he was the one to rip the curse mark from your body after the twenty-four hours passed. Because of that, your half of the curse mark has scarred your body greatly. You were about to die when you came into the hospital so you should thank Sakura for bringing you here in time. You should be fine right now but I didn't expect that the emotional stress that your body had to endure would end up making you mute."

Tukiko felt her body go numb from the news. She almost died. She could've died if Sakura didn't help her to the hospital in the time. She could've died and it was all because Sasuke left. Who knew that one simple act could have almost killed her? It also left her body to emotionally damaged that she couldn't speak anymore. Why did Sasuke have to do that stupid act of leaving?

_Am I...fine now?_ She asked, looking up at the medic.

"Yes but you will need to stay in the hospital for a few more days to see if your condition improves or not." She turned around and headed for the door to give Tukiko alone time. Stopping at the doorway, she said, "I'm sorry." Then she left.

And that was it. Tukiko was left alone in her room to think things through. She didn't even know what to think exactly. All she did was stare out the window, looking outside. Just a few days ago, she was thinking about how she could have had a childhood if she stayed in the village. To think that was only a few days ago because right now, it felt so far away. Tukiko's world was falling apart and it was all because of the simple act of Sasuke leaving.

She felt like crying right now but she couldn't find the will to. It was like she couldn't cry anymore. Either it was because of Sasuke or the emotional stress her body had just gone through, she just couldn't cry anymore. It was weird too. She wanted to cry. She wanted to let out all the anger and frustration that was going on within her right now but she couldn't because she couldn't cry.

For half the day, Tukiko just stared out the window, not even thinking. No one even visited her except for the occasional nurse to check on her vitals and condition. That was fine by her. She wanted to be alone for now.

As the afternoon arrived, however, Tukiko finally got visitors and it was people she never expected to come by and see her.

A knock on the door came into the ears of Tukiko. She didn't turn or stir, just continuing to stare outside. There was a snort of disgust.

"Jeez, Uchiha, I knew that the clan was cold but I didn't expect this from you."

Tukiko was brought out of it upon hearing that voice.

_Wait a second...!_

She turned around and her eyes widened to see Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara standing at the doorway. She smiled.

_"Gaara, Temari, Kankuro! What are you doing here?"_ She mouthed to them.

They all raised an eyebrow as they walked over to her bedside.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Kankuro said, sitting at the foot of her bed.

Tukiko scowled and kicked at him. He fell off the bed and onto the floor. Glaring at her, he stood to his feet when Temari hit him upside the head.

"Don't say that, Kankuro! Remember what Hokage-sama told us about her condition," Temari scolded her brother.

Kankuro laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that condition again?"

Both Temari and Gaara glared at him for that stupid question. Tukiko blinked at surprise at the three of them. Was it just her or were those three acting like real siblings since the last time she saw them? Gaara patted Tukiko's head while Temari started to explain to Kankuro angerly that she couldn't speak. Tukiko looked up at Gaara in surprise. Whoa. Gaara was making contact with her and he wasn't even trying to kill her.

"Please forgive Kankuro's idiocy. He tends to do that often," Gaara apologized to the Uchiha. He sat on Tukiko's side on the bed. Upon that, Tukiko unconsiously scooted back, her eyebrow raised at him in suspicion. She grabbed a pad and pencil at her bedside table and wrote something on it. Then she showed it to Gaara.

_Who are you and what have you done to that kid who tried to kill me a few months ago?_

"Gaara's changed a lot from the Chunin Exams," replied Temari as she saw the message. "It's practically a miracle."

"Yeah, he doesn't even kill people randomly as much as he did before!" Kankuro said, recovering from the scolding.

Tukiko's eyes widened as she scrawled,_ You're kidding._

The two older sibling shook their heads.

"No, it's all true!"

"Gaara's kinder and more calmer than he was before."

Tukiko let all of that info sink in before she smiled at Gaara. Then she wrote to him, _Good for you, Gaara! I knew that you would change sooner or later._

Gaara was the one to raise his eyebrow this time. "You thought that I would change for the better?"

She nodded and wrote, Of course I did, Gaara! I knew that you didn't mean to go crazy back during the Chunin Exams. Besides, I've seen people like you who have been called a monster because of what they had inside of them.

"What do you mean?" Temari asked, reading the note. "Other people like Gaara?"

_Yes, back when I was traveling. I met people who had a monster within them who were exactly like Gaara. All alone in the world. When I met them, I tried to help them change and a few months later, I became one of their closest friends, ironically._ She rolled her eyes. _Weird since I was all alone myself and I met up with them._

Gaara's eyes were downcast after he read the message. Temari and Kankuro stared at their little brother in concern. Tukiko tilted her head, worrying what was wrong with him.

"Tukiko...You're all alone now, aren't you?" Tukiko took a sharp intake of breath. What she was feeling now after hearing the news she couldn't speak was right on target with what he said. "Your own brother left you...and now you feel like you're all alone with no one there." Gaara looked up at her with empathetic eyes. "I know what that's like...The feeling of lonliness...I felt the same as you just a few months ago but now...because of you and Naruto, I don't feel as lonely as before... Because you cared for me when you didn't even know me and Naruto understanding my pain...I don't feel like that anymore but you're experiancing it like me, aren't you?"

Tukiko felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. What Gaara was saying was all true. She felt so lonely now without Sasuke there. They've always been together before and after she ran away from the village. She never left his side and neither did he. She couldn't survive a day without him there anymore. It hurt to know that he wouldn't be there in the house when she woke up in the morning anymore. She lost her twin to a guy who loved snakes and marked her twice in her life. Plain out straight, she just lost her twin and missed him like crazy. She wanted him home and she wanted him home now. She just felt like no one there understood her if he wasn't there.

Temari saw that Tukiko was going to cry soon and it sort of broke her heart. Although she only knew the girl for a few times, she felt almost sisterly to the young Uchiha. It was because of the fact that Tukiko apologized to Gaara, her brother, and saw past his monster image, it made her feel close to her. She sat on Tukiko's other side of her bed, frowning at the almost teary girl.

"You miss your brother terribly, don't you?"

She nodded, feeling a few tears slip through her eyelids. She wiped away the tears, sniffling, and wrote on the pad,_ I do miss Sasuke but I hate him for all of this! I can't speak because of him!_

Maybe it was the tears of sadness or it was her shaking that made her do this next act but she didn't care at the moment. Tukiko ended up bursting into tears at what she wrote and latched herself onto Gaara who was the nearest to her. She started to cry into his chest, none of her sobs sounding the room because she didn't have a voice anymore but her shaking spoke the truth. Gaara blinked in surprise, tensing at the sudden contact. He'd never had someone crying on him before. What was he supposed to do? He looked at Temari to see what to do. Temari was startled as well but it quickly passed over. She saw Gaara's silent plea and mouthed, _Hug her! Comfort her!_ He wasn't sure if he should try that but the sight of the crying girl on him was a bit too much. So awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around Tukiko and patted her back.

"Um, there, there?" He said, feeling a bit foolish. Gaara didn't know how to comfort a girl much less a person! What the hell was he supposed to react? He also felt a bit silly doing this in front of his siblings.

Behind him, Kankuro was snickering at the sight. He would have never thought about seeing his stoic and anit-social little brother having someone to comfort. This was a once in a lifetime thing and he really wished he had a camera with him right now.

Gaara kept hugging Tukiko and comforting her until she finally stopped crying. She finished, pulling away and wiping her tears. Gaara didn't seem to mind that the front of his shirt was wet with all of the tears she cried. Tukiko rubbed her eyes, mouthing, _"Sorry"_ to him. Gaara only shook his head.

"Don't feel sorry. It wasn't your fault. It was your brother's."

Tukiko nodded sadly. He was right. It was all Sasuke's fault she was an emotional wreck right now.

"Hey, don't feel bad or cry over your brother," Kankuro said. He gave a cheeky smile. "You still have other people who are there for you, right? Like us!"

She sniffled, mouthing, "Really?"

"Yeah!" Temari stood up and stood by Kankuro, putting her hands on her hips. "You still have me, Kankuro, and Gaara here for you. We kind of gotten used to you after what happened after the Chunin Exams."

"Temari's right, Tukiko," Gaara said. He folded his arms, giving a curt nod-his way of affection, Tukiko guessed. "You may have lost that traitor of a brother but you still have us and Konoha still. We can rival that of your brother's relationship so you will never feel lonely again."

Tukiko stared at the siblings, glancing between them every few seconds. Were they serious? They would still be there for her? Looking into each of their eyes, she saw that they weren't lying at all. She could see the sincerness that they spoke of and they would truly be there for her. Seeing this, she gave the first true smile she had since Sasuke left as she mouthed,

_"Thank you."_

---

So there's the chapter! This chapter was actually meant to be two seperate one's but I figured that most of you would get mad at me for leaving a cliffhanger so I just did this instead. You guys should thank me for this.

Anywho, I hope that most of you are enjoying this story. Why? Because there are only three more chapters left! Whoo-hoo! That means I actually finished a story! In these last few chapters, we will be getting more in depth with the subplot of the story. You know, the one about Neji and Tukiko's engagement? That one! You'll find out more on that later in about the next chapter or so. You will also be glad to hear that I _will _be making a sequel for this. The Shippuden one! Heck yes! Anyway that's it I have to say.

Please reveiw!


	25. The box's contents

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto wouldn't make any of the story as sappy as I did.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 25

Several days had passed since the Sand siblings told Tukiko they would be there for her along with everyone else in the village. She was rather happy about that and got over her small depression of Sasuke leaving. Since she was happy, she grew even more happy when she was finally fit enough to leave the hospital. Sure, she was still upset that she couldn't speak anymore but she got over. When she left the hospital, the first thing she did was have a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's. She hated the hospital the medics were always giving her so eating that bowl of ramen was like heaven to her.

Speaking of ramen and Ichiraku's, Tukiko had never gotten to see Naruto around ever since she saw him go through the gates to go get Sasuke. She heard that he was in the hospital and would be there longer than she had because he and Sasuke had this huge battle royale. He was seriously injured along with Chouji, Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru during the retrieval mission. She felt horrible when hearing that most of them had gotten hurt because they were chasing after Sasuke. She felt so guilty that they had gotten hurt to get Sasuke that she couldn't even dare and go visit any of them herself during their recovery. Tukiko had thought that if she saw them, they would only be reminded they failed, especially Naruto. He had promised to bring back Sasuke for her and Sakura and he had ended up failing. It would be even worse to see the same face that had ended up betraying him and the village. So Tukiko didn't visit them. Instead, she had to ask Sakura to give them the flowers she wanted to give to them for a quick recovery. She felt like a coward for asking Sakura this but Sakura didn't seem to mind.

Tukiko walked through her house, cleaning up after her lunch and wondered what she could do for the day. She didn't feel like she was in the greatest mood to go and train right now and she felt like she needed to be alone. After putting away the dishes, she decided to go and read a book out in the backyard. She headed up to her bedroom and grabbed the book off of her bedside table. The title read, _The basics of sign language._ She scowled at the title as she slowly walked down the hallway.

Since she couldn't speak anymore, she had to find some way to communicate with people. Tukiko didn't want people always trying to guess what she was saying by doing charades and she didn't want somebody to translate for her all the time. She was an Uchiha. She preferred to do things herself. So the only possible solution was to learn sign language. She didn't worry if people still didn't understand what she said. Either someone was going to translate or they could learn sign language themselves. That was what Sakura was doing; learning sign language herself.

As Tukiko was walking down the hallway, she seemed to linger at one particular door on the way outside. Her eyes glanced at the door, pausing for just a second. The door that she was staring at happened to be Itachi's old room. She wondered why she had paused there when she remembered Itachi's supposed last words he had said to her before she had ended up fainting back in that outpost town.

"_Go to my room to find a box...Use the key to open the box and you will find your answers..."_

_Oh, yeah...I remember he said that,_ Tukiko thought. Now she could remember that Itachi had said that to her. She just forgot with all of the drama that was happening in the last few weeks. The thing was she didn't know if she should listen to Itachi. Technically, he was an S-ranked shinobi criminal that had ended up murdering their entire family at the age of thirteen and he was a part of some evil organization so it was a tough call on whether or not if she should listen to him. But she really _really _wanted to see what he meant when he said "_you will find your answers" _and_ "open the box."_ What box? She had to know. It was like there was going to be a really huge secret thing in the box Itachi mentioned and she had to know. If she didn't see what was in said box, it was like she would die.

Forgetting all rational thought of this possibly being a trap, Tukiko opened Itachi's door and walked straight in.

Tukiko stood in Itachi's room, her eyes wide with amazement. Even when she was little, she had gone into Itachi's room whenever there was a thunderstorm so that she and Sasuke could room with him to escape the scary storm. He always let them in and the two would snuggle up on either side of him with his arms around them both. The room was just as big as her room, if not bigger, and had the same essentials a bedroom would need: a bed, a desk, and other things. Itachi had never personalized his room since he saw no need to. He was a ninja and was always off on missions. He didn't have time to do such silly things like decorating his room. It was a waste of time. The room seemed to be untouched for five years because there was a thick layer of dust around the room. Tukiko had to try hard not to sneeze as she made her way into the room.

Tukiko looked around the room, trying to see if the box was going to be anywhere there. There was no box on the bed, in the desk, or even in the closet! Where in the world was that box? She walked over to the bed and kneeled down to the floor, peeking under the bed. That was the only possible place she hadn't searched at all for the box. A huge grin plastered onto her face as she saw a small metal box situated right there.

_Yes! Jackpot!_

She excitedly reached for the box, ignoring all of the cobwebs that had surrounded around the box. Swiftly, she took the box, wiping the top of it of dust. For a metal box, it didn't seem to be very heavy. Tukiko turned the box, trying to find a way to open it. To her dismay, there was no way to open the box. She paused, remembering another thing Itachi had said.

"....._Use the key to open the box..."_

_Key? What key? There isn't even a keyho-_

Tukiko stopped her thoughts as she turned to one side of the box. To her surprise, there _was_ something there that was there. It wasn't an average keyhole though. Instead of the regular keyhole, there was some carved outline of something that vaguely resembled something like a circle with a square box underneath it. She raised an eyebrow at it.

_Okay, what the hell is that? That can't be the keyhole...can it?_

She stared at the carving again. It may not looked like a keyhole but it _did_ look like something had to fit in there in order for the box to open. Just what was it exactly that could fit in that stupid outline? She stared long and hard at the outline, trying to have a decent clue to what it could look like. After several minutes of staring, nothing was coming to her. She sighed in frustration, running a hand through her hair and glancing around the room.

_This is so freaking hard! Why the hell didn't Itachi get a _normal_ box with a _normal_ keyhole and a _normal _key?! Doesn't he know when to be normal?_

Of course not, another side of her said. Itachi was never normal in the first place what with being a genius so why should he be normal with his things? That was basically true.

Tukiko glanced around the room randomly, not sure what she was going to be looking for. Her eyes swept over the bed, the desk, the wall, a latern with the Uchiha crest hanging nearby- She paused at the latern. A lantern with the Uchiha crest on it? She stared at the lantern, blinking at it. For some strange reason, the Uchiha crest had caught her eye. She didn't know why since she always had that crest on every single one of her clothing and she saw it everywhere around the compound. But as she stared at the crest this time, she noted that the top of the fan had this circular shape while underneath it, it looked like a square was hanging out from there. Her eyes widened at the thought as she switched her gaze back to the outline. She smacked her head with the palm of her head.

_Of course! How could I have not seen it before? The key is the Uchiha crest!_

That was the first part of the puzzle solved. Now she had to solve the second half. She didn't know what item with the crest would end up being the key.

As the Uchiha she was, she had many items that bared the family crest. Tukiko had it on her clothes, some of her scrolls, and on some of her weapons! How in the world could she know which of her items would be the key that would open the box? She had to think of which item to use soon.

Tukiko sat there, indian-style, with the box in her lap. Her elbow was propped up on her right knee, her chin cradeled by her palm. She kept staring at the keyhole, brainstorming on which of her items was small enough and thin enough to fit in that hole. She had no idea which of them would fit in that hole! She had hundreds of items of the crest and any of them could be the keyhole! This was going to be tougher than she expected.

As Tukiko kept thinking which of them could be the key, her hand scratched at her side where there was an itch. She started to retract her hand but stopped when feeling a cool metal brush through her finger tips. Dazed, she grabbed at the cool surface and boredly looked down at a keychain she had kept on her shorts from earlier. It was the keychain that Itachi had given her at her sixth birthday. Her eyes just stared at the metal keychain, turning it over and over to see the Uchiha crest and the Konoha village symbol. She continued to do this as she turned her eyes to the keyhole. Unconsiously, she noted that her keychain was the size and shape of the keyhole. She wondered why.

Tukiko literally smacked herself across the face at that thought. Duh, her keychain _could_ be the key! She wasn't too sure if it really was but she might as well as try. She unclasped the keychain from her shorts and held it up next to the keyhole. She grinned like a fox, seeing that the keychain was in fact the size and shape of the keyhole. Perfect! Now all she had to do was fit it in. And that's what she did. She snapped the keychain into place and it fit perfectly.

Upon snapping the keychain in, the lid of the box popped open. Tukiko smiled really wide, proud of herself of figuring out what Itachi's cryptic words meant. Now she could claim that prize he had promised her! She opened the lid wider, letting her see what the contents of the box were. An eyebrow raised by itself as she viewed the contents. There were a few peices of paper as well as a scroll and a wrapped present inside. Tukiko decided to ignore the scroll and gift for now as she reached for one of the peices of paper. She unfolded it to see Itachi's elegant handwriting. It was a letter. Her eyes started to sweep through the letter, reading the lines.

_Dear Imouto,_

_It has been so long since either Sasuke and I have seen you. I'm writing to you today when it has been about ten months since we have seen you. It seems like it was so long ago..._

_The reason that I am writing to you now is because it was at Sasuke's request. Ever since you had left, he was a bit depressed and cried every morning when he saw you weren't there. I have been trying my best to comfort him but he misses you more than anything. To cheer him up, I suggested to write to you as if you were here. He did seem a bit more cheerful after he wrote his first letter to you and slowly started to go back to normal. I promised him that I would do the same thing as well so here I am, writing to you._

_I guess I have to tell you what's recently happening in our clan, right? Just a few days ago, Father had said that I was skilled enough to enter the ANBU black ops althought I am only a chunin and thirteen years old at that. I do not wish to enter the ANBU but as you know, what Father says I have to do. Like with you and your marriage. I am still upset about that marriage that Father is forcing you into. I don't believe that you should marry at the young age of sixteen. You should be able to find love yourself so that you may live as happily as you could with him. I'm sorry that I told you that you had to grin and bare with the engagement like that when you had just found out. It was wrong of me to say such a thing. It might have led to you running away in the first place. So I'm sorry._

_That is all I can say to you now, Imouto. I have to go get ready for a mission that is important. Father almost came instead of going to Sasuke's Academy entrance. I doubt that he is our father if he ignores such an important day of one of his sons. I will write to you when I find the time._

_Love,_

_Aniki_

Tukiko frowned. So Itachi wrote letters to her like Sasuke did. He must have really missed her as well. Plus, she was a bit miffed at the part where he said he was going to be in the ANBU even though he was a chunin. Didn't people have to be jonin before he could even consider entering that? Well, Itachi was the prodigy of the Uchiha clan so it was to be expected. Shrugging, she moved onto the next letter. This one was dated just a week after the first.

_Dear Imouto,_

_How are you? I hope that things are working well for you. If you are wondering how Sasuke and I are, I'm afraid that you wouldn't like how things are going within the clan. For me, though, I would not know if you would be pleased to know that I had passed through the ANBU entrance exams and am now apart of the ANBU black ops. You would probably congratulate me but you may not if you saw how unhappy I was to be so. Yes, I am unhappy. You would be too if you would know that you only entered the ANBU only to be an agent from within. Since you are only young, I will explain what that means._

_Recently, our clan has been becoming more and more unhappy with the way the village works and disprespects the Uchiha clan. It all started way back during the formation of Konohagakure. The first Hokage, Harashirama Senju, and the Uchiha clan leader, Madara Uchiha, were both candidates to become the first Hokage of the village. As you know, Harashirama became the first. Because of this, Madara had become angered and tried to rile the Uchihas to rebel against the new Hokage for prejudicing them but his clansmen did not feel predjudiced at all so they turned their back on him. Feeling betrayed, Madara had left the village. The first went after him to try to bring him back but Madara did not want to go back. They ended up fighting in the historical place that is now known as the Valley of End. Madara Uchiha died that day and all was well. Or so they thought._

_Seven years ago when the Kyuubi attacked the village, the council had thought that the demon attacking the village was no natural disaster. Instead, they suspected that an Uchiha had somehow controlled the beast and willed it to attack the village. How could an Uchiha control one of the strongest demons? It is our eyes, the Sharingan that does it. It is one of the only things that could possibly control the Kyuubi. Because they suspected our clan of making the Kyuubi attack and losing thousands of ninjas, they forced our clan to the corners of the village as well as making sure to keep an eye on us. Recently, our clan has had enough of this and are having secrets meetings to plan to take over the village. That's where I step in._

_I am to be a secret agent for the Uchiha clan so that the clan may be able to overthrow the village. The thing is I do not wish to do this. I love this village and don't mind the order of the village. But Father wants me to be the agent for I am the heir of the clan. I wish that I wasn't the heir of the clan because I do not wish to start a war in the village. I do not like war at all. So why must I have to be the one to help destroy the peace of the village?_

_After I had learned why I was to enter the ANBU, I spoke to the Hokage about this. He did not like the sound of the secret meetings that the clan has been having so he told me to inform him of anything suspicous that could occur in the future. As much as I love acting like a secret agent (note the sarcasm), I hate betraying my clan at the same time. This sucks._

_I have to go to the next clan meeting so I'll write more to you later._

_Love,_

_Aniki_

Tukiko didn't understand what her brother was talking about. Secret meetings? Being a secret agent? She didn't even understand why her father would want to hurt the village! Was it really all because of the prejudice towards the clan? Or was it really something else all together? She just didn't understand any of this, even six years later. It was true that she wouldn't understand anything if she were just seven years old. She understood somethings that Itachi was talking about but others she didn't. What exactly happened with the secret meetings. Shaking her head, she moved onto the next letter.

The next letter was strange for Tukiko. Some of the words on the paper were smudged with something wet and some of them were scribbled out entirely.

_Dear Imouto,_

_So many horrible things are occuring in our village and in our clan. I hate what is happening and I regret ever becoming the double agent against our clan and the agent to our clan._

_It all started after the meeting three days ago. During the meeting, Father had decided what they were going to do to prevent the prejudice against our clan and take control of the village. They were going to plan a coup de taut. You wouldn't know what a coup de taut is so I'll tell you. They are basically going to go after the council and take out the Hokage so that they may rule. That's what it means. To do the coup de taut, they trusted me to moniter the Hokage's activites since I am the head of the ANBU. After learning of the coup de taut, I informed the Hokage of Father's plans. I guess I can't call him that anymore since a father would never let his child go through all of this. The Hokage was graved at this news and discussed this with the council. I had hoped they would find some way to stop this coup de taut from happening but I should not have asked that. They came to the conclusion of killing the entire clan so that no one would know of those plans. And guess who is the one to try to kill the clan in one night? You would be heartbroken to know that I will be the one to do this._

_I don't want to kill the clan! I love my family but I hate what they are doing. They want to hurt the village but I love Konoha as well. I'm so torn right now, Imouto. I don't know want to choose between my family or my village. But after all of the things that our family is planning, I have to kill them, though I really don't wish to. Killing the family means killing Sasuke as well, which I do not want to do. Sasuke is precious to me like you are. I'm glad that you are away so that I do not have to kill you but I worry for Sasuke. I don't have the heart to kill him..._

_But it gets worse, Imouto. Two days after I learned that I would have to kill the family, I had an encounter in the forest with someone I had believed to be dead. Do you recall that I had told you that it was believed that Madara Uchiha had died at the Valley of End when he tried to escape the village? Well, he isn't as dead as everyone believed him to be. He's alive. Very much alive. He had come up to me, saying that he has been watching my progress as a ninja. He even told me to trust him and tell him what was going on within the clan. I was hesitant at first to trust him. It was very hard to believe that Madara Uchiha could be alive but seeing as how he had the Mangekyou Sharingan and the eternal one at that, I did believe. You probably wouldn't know what the Mangekyou Sharingan was but I do not have enough paper to explain it. So I told Madara everything that was happening up to where I was told to murder the clan. When hearing this, he offered to help me kill the clan so that I wouldn't have to do this on my own but it would come at a price. If he were to help me, I would have to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan then after the clan was dead, I was to go join an organization that he had made. It was made up of S-ranked criminals at that point and I was reluctant to join. I needed his help if I were to do this but I did not want to gain that Mangekyou Sharingan. I had no choice but to do as he said._

_The next day, I had succedded in gaining the Mangekyou Sharingan, no matter how much I hated it. I killed Shisui, my own best friend. The one I considered a brother to me! I didn't want to but I did it. He's dead._

The next few lines of the letter had tearstains all over it.

_I had to cover up his death so I made it so that it looked like he had commited suicide. I forged a note in his handwriting with the help of my Sharingan and dumped his body in a river. It hurt me to do so, Imouto. I felt so guilty killing Shisui. He was like a brother to me but I had to do this._

_Imouto, I'm sorry to say this but tomorrow night will be the night that our clan will be dead, save for the two of us. I'm so sorry if you come back to hear that I was the one to kill the clan. Please don't hate me for this._

_Love,_

_Aniki_

Tukiko was crying by the time the letter ended. She felt so sorry for her older brother. He had to go through all of this, being a double agent for the village against their clan. He was the one charged with killing the clan, including Sasuke. On top of that, he had met a supposed dead ancestor of theirs who was going to help him kill the clan _and_ he had to join a criminal organization after he killed the clan. Why did their father-no, he wasn't their father any longer. Not after he made Itachi enter the ANBU so that they could find some way to overthrow the village council and Hokage. She wished that man didn't do this otherwise, everyone in the clan would be alive.

Tukiko didn't try wiping away her tears as she moved onto the last letter. She picked it up and unfolded it to find that it was short. It may have been short but there were many tearstains on it, distorting most of the words. Itachi must have been really sad when writing this.

_Tukiko....Imouto...I'm sorry to write this but tonight, the Uchiha clan has been massacred save for me and Sasuke. Yes, Sasuke is alive. I couldn't find the heart to kill him! I wanted him to be alive when you would come back to the village. Tukiko, you and Sasuke are those most precious to me. It would literally kill me if I were to see you both dead. Both of you would be crushed to hear that their twin died so I had to leave Sasuke alive. But it would come with a great price._

_Tonight when Sasuke saw our parents dead on the floor, I was crushed to see that he was afraid of me. Afraid of dying. He ran away from me, fearing that I was going to kill him. It hurt me even more when I told him that I wasn't going to kill him but I was going to let him live so that he could cling to life, gathering his hatred for me so that he could kill me someday. You may not be happy to hear this but I plan for Sasuke to kill me one day. I feel so guilty for killing the clan and leaving Sasuke to live a hate filled and lonely life that I don't care about how I die anymore. I _want_ to die at Sasuke's hand. I don't care about anything else for the guilt is eating me alive._

_So Tukiko, I'm sorry for the day should we meet again. I may or may not act very cold to you but I must do this. I'm sorry. I hope that you could forgive me, Imouto._

_Before I leave Konoha forever, I will leave something for you, should you come back to the village before your sixteenth birthday. It is something that will help you escape the marriage contract that has been set for you with the Hyuga clan. This is the last gift I can give to you before I go._

_Until we meet again, Imouto._

_Love your older brother,_

_Itachi Uchiha_

Tukiko was practically sobbing by the end of the letter. She couldn't believe it. Itachi had to kill the clan on orders that he didn't even want! He was cold towards Sasuke so that Sasuke would somehow become an Avenger. He planned that someday when Sasuke was stronger than him, he would die by his little brother's hand! He didn't even seem to care about his life anymore so he was willing to die at Sasuke's hand. She tried to wipe away her tears but it wouldnt' work. More just came.

Tukiko was far too upset about this. Her family was broken up because of what her father and this Madara Uchiha planned. Itachi forced Sasuke to become an Avenger and he only pushed Sasuke to leave the village. How could he? Both of them were important to her but they only ended up hurting her more than they should. Sasuke was gone, in the hands of Orochimaru while Itachi was a part of an S-ranked criminal organization! This was so wrong. They left her all alone so how could they do this to her? She hated them but she missed them like crazy. Why couldn't they just come home so that they could be a family again?

She wiped away the last of her tears. Itachi wouldn't want her crying right now so she shouldn't. Tukiko was finished crying as she stared down at the scroll that her brother left for her. She reached for it. Turning it sideways, she studied the scroll to see nothing different about it. How could a scroll help her escape that marriage contract that was set for her? Shrugging, she opened the scroll and started to read it's contents. As her eyes scanned downwards to the end, her eyes started to grow wide to the point they were as wide as saucer plates. At the end where there was the signatures of the clan leaders, her jaw dropped open.

_Oh my god! I can't believe this!_

Tukiko couldn't believe her eyes. All this time when she saw Neji, she could have just done _that_ to escape the engagement? This was ridiculous! No wonder her parents forbid her to become a kunoichi. If she did, she could have escaped the engagement as easily as snapping her fingers. A smirk started to form on her face as she stood to her feet.

_Neji Hyuga, prepare to become a single man once again because I, Tukiko Uchiha, _will_ escape the engagement and be free to love who I want._

_---_

Okay, I was feeling generous to post up another chapter after only two days. I was getting so many kind reviews that I couldn't help but post this up. But this only means that there are two more chapters left of _The Uchiha Sister_. I'm so excited to get to the sequel! I've already made it and am up to chapter 7 of it! I'm that excited. So in this chapter, Tukiko learned a lot of things like why Itachi really killed the clan and even about Madara Uchiha. Sorry for those who have not yet read the manga but I had to put him in there somehow. Plus people kept asking me about the box that Itachi mentioned so I put it in. And I even had a use for the keychain Itachi gave to Tukiko and Sasuke when they were younger. I didn't have a use for it before but now I did!

That's all I can say for now. I don't want to spoil what happens the next chapter.

Please review!


	26. The engagement fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 26

"I can't believe this," Tsunade muttered as her eyes scrolled down the marriage contract.

"_I know. I could have done _that_ to get out of the marriage,_" Tukiko said, using sign language. She had memorized most of the sign language courtesy of her Sharingan. She didn't feel like learning it the hard way so she just used her Sharingan to memorize it for her. Sign language was basically like hand seals so it was easier for her to remember.

The day after Tukiko found the marriage contract that Itachi had left, she had rushed over to Tsunade and gave the contract to her. Tsunade read it and couldn't believe it either.

"So all this time, you could have gone up to Neji Hyuga and do that to get out of the marriage?" Sakura asked, peering over her sensei's shoulder to read the contract as well. When she was done, Tsunade resealed it and handed it back to the Uchiha girl.

"_Right! I could have just done that and yet no one told me about this!"_ Tukiko furiously said, getting the scroll back.

"Well, there is an old village rule that regards marriage engagements. All of them have to have that rule," Tsunade said.

Tukiko raised an eyebrow.

"_Seriously?"_

Tsunade nodded. She folded her hands on her desk, staring at Tukiko with curious eyes.

"So you want me to get Neji for you?"

She nodded furiously. She wanted out of this marriage and she wanted it now! Any longer and she would explode with frustration.

Tsunade sighed then turned to Sakura. "Go retrieve Neji Hyuga as well as his uncle. He would need to be here since he is the Hyuga leader," she ordered her new student.

"Hai, Shishou!" Sakura rushed out of the office and towards the Hyuga estate.

"You think you're ready to do this?" Tsunade asked Tukiko.

Tukiko nodded again. The moment she read that stupid rule in the marriage contract, she was more than ready to try and beat Neji to get out. Since Neji was already recovered from when he was on the retrievel mission, Tukiko didn't have to worry about going easy on her so called fiance.

_After today, he's not going to be _my_ fiance anymore,_ Tukiko thought with a smirk. After today, she would be a free woman again. After so long, she would not be an engaged girl any more and she could date who she wanted.

There was a knock on the door and Tsunade called for them to enter. Sakura was the one to enter with Neji and Hiashi right behind her. They were both surprised to see Tukiko in there.

"Here they are, Shishou," Sakura said, bowing to her sensei.

"Thank you, Sakura." Tsunade nodded her head in approval.

"Why were we called here, Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked. He had been at home, training with Neji when they had been interuppted by Sakura, only to summoned to the Hokage's office. He hoped that whatever it was wasn't very important. How wrong he was.

Tukiko began to smirk maliciously like she knew something they didn't. Neji raised an eyebrow at her strange behavoir and wondered why she was looking like that. Tsunade smirked as well.

"It is about the matter about Tukiko Uchiha's current engagement to your nephew, Neji Hyuga."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow.

"What about it, Hokage-sama?"

"As you know, Tukiko is to marry Neji the day that she is to turn sixteen."

"Yes, yes, I know. She is to marry my nephew at sixteen so that our clans would unite. Is that all?" he asked impatiently. Hiashi just wanted out so that they could continue Neji's training.

Tsunade frowned. "No, that is not all. Now where was I?"

"_You were about to tell them about the contract,"_ Tukiko said.

"Oh, that's right!" She cleared her throat. "Do you recall that wedding contract you and Fugaku Uchiha signed ?" Hiashi nodded. "It states that Tukiko is to marry Neji at the age of sixteen, no questions asked but..." She smirked. "We have found the only thing that can cancel out the contract all together."

Hiashi's eyes widened, glancing through the corners of his eyes to see Tukiko's smirk grow wider. She couldn't have found that, could she? "Y-You don't mean-"

"Yes, Hyuga. She found the loophole."

"What loophole does she speak of, Hyuga-sama?" Neji asked, one eyebrow arched. He did not seem to understand what they were all talking were they talking about?

Hiashi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now that Tukiko has found out about the rule, he may as well as tell him. "In Konoha, there is an old rule that the ancestors of our village had formed a rule for all marraige arrangements. The rule is that if the family wishes to back out of the engagement, the two who are engaged must fight against each other. Should the person who wished to back out of the marriage win, they will be able to do so."

"And if they lose?"

"They are to continue on with the marriage as planned and may not try again to back out."

"Why haven't I heard of this rule before?" Neji suspicously asked.

"Because we did not wish for the engagement to be called off." Hiashi sighed in frustration. "As an extra precaution, Fugaku Uchiha had not wished for Tukiko to become a ninja so she had prevented her to do so. It was working until the day that we told the children of the engagement. It is also the day that Tukiko had run away from home. We might have been able to have continued the arrangement if we kept the rule away from the two of you."

Neji raised his eyebrow higher, his arms folding. Tukiko could tell that he was asking through his eyes, "And you've kept this from us for so long?" Personally, Tukiko thought the same.

Tukiko tapped Sakura on the shoulder and started to move her hands. Sakura took this as a sign to translate for her. She turned to Neji.

"So Neji, now that we both know about this rule, I, Tukiko Mikoto Uchiha, challenge you to a fight for the ending of our engagement," Sakura declared for Tukiko.

Hiashi frowned, knowing this would happen. He could do nothing now that Tukiko knew about it. He nodded to Tsunade, saying he approved of it.

Tsunade nodded. "All right. In two days in the arena, Tukiko Uchiha and Neji Hyuga will fight for the the breaking of the marriage contract."

"Hn. I will win, of course. Tukiko can not be able to beat me," Neji said arrogantly with a smirk.

Tukiko snorted and glared at him. "_As if, Hyuga. I will win and be out of this stupid contract."_

Neji understood sign language since all Hyugas were requried to and glared at Tukiko. She remarked with her own glare. Hiashi, Tsunade, and Sakura could sense the hostility going on and the need to win. This was going to be the match for a lifetime.

---

Tukiko stood in the middle of the arena grounds. She was standing in the exact same place as she was when she was fighting Gaara before a couple of months ago. It was strange being in this arena again. It was even stranger being in the arena again for the fight of her life. Yes, it was the fight of her life. If she won, Tukiko would be able to marry whoever she wanted to. This fight would determine her future.

_Okay, Tukiko. Today is the day you _need _to kick Neji's butt so that you can be a single woman again,_ she told herself. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her nerves were acting up ever since she saw the size of the crowd that had come to watch her fight. Her eyes had widened at the sight and it only made her more nervous. Apparently Tsunade had practically advertised this fight for the past two days. Since the village had found out about the Hyuga-Uchiha engagement, they had became more than intrested when hearing that Tukiko was fighting against the marriage by challenging Neji to break out of the contract. They all wanted to watch it and nearly all of the ninjas had come to witness this event. Tsunade even charged them money for admission into the arena. Once seeing the size, Tukiko freaked out. She took another deep breath remembering the size. _Just forget about the crowd. Just concentrate on this fight._

Tukiko knew she could win this match if she tried hard enough.

A few seconds later, Neji appeared before her with Gemna in between them. Neji glared at her while Tukiko glared back but at the same time, was feeling a huge feeling of Deja vu. This was _exactly_ like her match with Gaara except she wasn't fighting a psychotic killer. Just a fate obsessed freak this time.

Tukiko looked past Neji and tilted her head upwards where Tsunade, the council elders, and Hiashi were watching the match. Her eyes sweeped over the elders and Hiashi towards Tsunade. When her eyes connected with the Hokage's, Tsunade nodded and gave an encouraging smile. She knew that Tukiko could do this. Tsunade scanned the crowd and saw that this was as much people as they were going to get. It was time to start the match.

"Welcome everyone!" Tsunade said, her powerful voice reaching everyone. "Today is an important day for two clans. Thirteen years ago, two of the most powerful clans our village has to offer had contracted a wedding contract that would unite the two. But today, one of the clans wishes to break out of the contract. There is an old village engagement law that states if someone wishes to break their contract, the two in the marriage must fight. That is what is happening today. The Uchiha clan wishes to break the contract of the Hyuga-Uchiha engagement so Tukiko and Neji must fight. I declare this match to begin!"

There were applauses all over the audience and a few shouts such as, "Go Tukiko-chan!" and "Yosh! Use the power of youth to win, Neji!" It wasn't hard to figure out who said that last one.

"Okay, since this is not exactly an official match, the rules are that you both keep fighting until someone collaspes," Genma told the both of them. They nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright. Begin!" He jumped out of the way.

Both kids got into a battle stance, glaring at each other. Neither of them said anything and neither made the first move. The audience held their breath, seeing that both of them were serious about this fight. In the audience, Sakura and Ino were biting their lips in anxiety. Who in the world was going to make the first move? To their suprise (not), Neji was the first to say something.

"Why don't you give up the fight, Tukiko? It is not your destiny to win," Neji taunted to her with a smirk.

Tukiko glared at him. "_Forget it, Hyuga. I refuse to give up until I become victorious."_

"You are a fool. You will never win."

"_I will win!"_ Tukiko decided to make the first move and charged at Neji. Neji had activated his Byakugan and got into his gentle fist stance. He thrust a palm at her, aiming for her chakra points but Tukiko dodged it, twisting her body so that she could avoid the attack. She knew that if Neji had hit her, she would get weaker and weaker with no use to her chakra. That was why she had to avoid all attacks that Neji would attack with. Tukiko didn't know if she could hit Neji either when he could use his rotation to block any of her attacks. Neji thrust another palm at her. Tukiko made to dodge it but her foot slipped. She gasped silently as the palm hit her in the chest. Neji let out a smirk but it dropped. There was a puff of smoke as a log appeared in Tukiko's place.

"Don't think you can hide forever, Uchiha." Neji glanced around the arena to find Tukiko. His _Byakugan_ was activated so he could see everything. He sweeped his eyes over to the trees where he found her hiding behind the tree. Her hands were fumbling with something. He glared at her with a smirk. "I can see where you are. Stop hiding!" Neji ran at the tree and thrust a palm through the tree. Tukiko sensed him at the last second and dodged before she was hit. His hand went through the tree. Tukiko ran before Neji could get her. He pulled his hand out the tree and followed her.

_Shit, oh shit! What am I going to do?!_ Tukiko had never fought a Hyuga before and saw one fight for the first time during the Chunin Exams finals. And that was Neji. This was ridiculous how she was running like a coward. Tukiko stopped, running, realizing that fact. All she ever did was run like a coward. First she ran to avoid her marriage contract when she was six, almost during all of her travels she had to run to avoid getting caught to be brought back home. She ran when she was caught by Orochimaru when she was eight. She ran away when things became too difficult for her to handle. She squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her fists. _I'm tired of running. All I ever did in my life was run! I'm sick and tired of it! I refuse to be a coward anymore!_

Neji came up behind her as he aimed for her chakra point. Tukiko merely sidestepped and jumped back to gain some distance between them. "Are you done hiding?" he taunted at her.

"_Yes. I'm done with running and hiding. I refuse to be a coward any longer! I have to stand up for myself for once."_ Tukiko snapped her eyes open to reveal the Sharingan. She got into a taijutsu stance. "_And if I have to stand up to you of all people, then that's a start!"_ She smirked. "_Bring it, Hyuga."_

"With pleasure!" Neji ran at Tukiko but stopped as she started to perform handseals. At the final handseal, she opened her mouth. "_Fire style: Grand fireball jutsu!" _A large fireball blew out of the girl's mouth. The flames engulfed Neji but they were blown away. He has used a _Rotation_ jutsu to blow the flames away.

(I'm sorry, but I have _nothing_ to think anymore for this fight. Just skip to near the end of the fight. Again, sorry!)

Tukiko slammed her foot down on Neji's chest as they reached the ground. Neji fell to the ground spread eagle, blood dripping down the corners of his mouth. Tukiko landed on her feet roughly, panting harshly from all of the attacks that Neji had hit her with. Those gentle fist attacks took a great deal on her body. She thought that Neji would stay down for the count but she was surprised that he struggled to his feet. He was panting harshly as well. Both kids were too tired to stand and felt like they would collapse at any minute. Everyone thought that they would both collapse but Sakura was wishing desperately that Neji would collaspe so that Tukiko could win. She could tell that Tukiko wanted to win.

The audience held their breaths as Neji and Tukiko started to sway. They gasped when Neji fell to the ground, motionless while Tukiko still stood.

Genma knelt down next to Neji to check on him. The boy was still alive but he could fight no longer. He stood to his feet, clearing his throat. "This match is over. The winner is Tukiko Uchiha," he declared, raising his arm on Tukiko's side.

Cheers broke throughout the arena. Sakura and Ino hugged each other, singing, "Tukiko won! Tukiko won!". Hinata sighed in relief while Hanabi smiled. Shizune smiled in relief to one of the girls she grew to love. They were all so happy. Even Tsunade was happy saying, "Oh yeah! Tukiko won! Pay up, Hyuga!" The only one sad was Hiashi as he grumbled while handing over a wad of Ryo to Tsunade. She grabbed the money, silently thanking the gods that for once, she won not because something bad was about to happen but because she knew that Tukiko would win.

Meanwhile, Tukiko was jumping up and down in joy. She won! She couldn't believe it! She won! She was free from the marriage contract! She didn't have to marry Neji anymore! And speaking of Neji...Tukiko stopped cheering to see Neji wince as he struggled to sit up. She felt bad for him and walked over to him, slightly limping. Neji was able to sit up and tried to stand but couldn't. He was surprised when a hand entered his vision. He titled his head up in surprise to see it was Tukiko who was the one offering a hand. A gentle smile was on her face.

"_Neji, I know that you really wanted to win but I just don't see you in a romantic way," _she said to him in apology. "_I don't and won't love you in any other way except for as a friend."_

Neji sighed, grabbing her hand. Tukiko pulled him up to his feet. He was able to stand on his own without Tukiko's help.

"I know that, Tukiko-san. I have tried to convince myself that I should love you romantically so that we would not be depressed with this marriage," Neji said to her, also apologetic. "But same as you, I cannot find myself to love you more than a friend."

Tukiko was relieved that he didn't feel that way for her. She was also touched that Neji would try to love her so that they both wouldn't be miserable with their marriage. But she couldn't love Neji and Neji didn't love her. She kept her smile up towards Neji.

"_Then let's start over. Before we both knew of that marriage." _Tukiko held out her hand for him to shake. "_Hi! My name's Tukiko Uchiha!"_

Neji stared at her hand and smiled.

"My name is Neji Hyuga," he said to her in a calm but happy tone. He shook her hand. "It is nice to meet you, Tukiko."

Tukiko released his hand, her smile turning into a happy grin.

"_Wanna be friends?"_

Neji was surprised that Tukiko would still want to be his friend after everything that had happened. But this was Tukiko he was talking about. This girl would be everyone's friend if that were possible. He nodded.

"I would like that."

"Well, isn't that sweet? You two are friends now." Tsunade came up behind them, smiling at the pair of them. She walked over to Tukiko and noggied her head. When she was done, Tukiko scowled at her, running a hand through her ruffled hair. Tsunade smiled. "Congratulations, brat. I knew you would win. Now your dream came true so you can be a ninja like you wanted."

Tukiko nodded happily. She was glad that she could stay as a ninja without the worry of getting married to someone she did not like. Now she could marry who she wanted like the one she loved. All she had to do was find him.

"Oh, and before I forget..." Tsunade reached behind her and pulled out a green chunin vest. Neji and Tukiko were exceptionally surprised when she held it out to Tukiko. Her eyes were wide as they stared at Tsunade. "Congratulations, you are a chunin."

"_Wh-What!?"_ Tukiko couldn't believe it. She couldn't have made it to chunin! The exams were months ago and Shikamaru was the only one of the genins to pass to the Chunin! And that was two months ago! How was that possible? "_B-But that can't be right! H-How could I...?"_

"You passed to chunin because Sarutobi-sensei recommended you sometime during your match right before he died," Tsunade explained. "I decided to go through with that recommendation but couldn't tell you because of everything that was happening to you. More added stress in your life could possibly kill you if I told you when you were still recovering. So I decided to tell you after you won this match."

Tukiko stared at the chunin vest then at Tsunade. She blinked several times, not sure what to say. A few seconds later, a huge grin broke out on her face. Then she hugged Tsunade tightly around the waist.

"_Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"_

Tsunade wasn't caught off guard when Tukiko hugged her. Something like this had happened when she first met the girl when she was eight. The girl had practically begged her to train her and when she finally gave in, the girl did the same thing she was doing now. Tsunade smiled at the memory but quickly composed herself. Once Tukiko let go of her, Tsunade put on her business mask on. She put a hand on her hip.

"I expect you to work hard from now on, got it?"

Tukiko nodded, grabbing her new Chunin vest. She held it to her chest as if she would never let go. She giggled happily. She would work to her best. Things were starting to look up for her. Everything was turning out for the best for her.

---

Author's note next chapter

Make sure to read it!


	27. Seeing him again

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I would make all of the characters cuter.

**The Uchiha Sister**

Chapter 27

_A ten year old Tukiko shivered in the dark as she sat in a tree near Iwa. It was dark and raining hard. She shuddered when the storm had morphed into a thunderstorm, which freaked her out. She hated thunderstorms greatly. Back home in Konoha, she would always go to Itachi's room with Sasuke to escape the storm but that was then. Right now, she was all alone._

I wish I could be back home with Aniki and Sasuke right now,_ she wished with all her heart. Tukiko didn't want to be in this storm all by herself. She just couldn't handle it. She shivered through her wet, ratty clothes as lightning struck yet again. She began to sob. _I want to be with Aniki right now!

_Tukiko probably shouldn't have started sobbing loudly because when she took a shuddering breath, she held it as she sensed a chakra approaching her. Opening her onyx tear filled eyes, she looked up to see a shadow approaching her. Through the dark, Tukiko could see that it was a human (thankfully) and about the size of a young man. She started to freak out. Whoever this man could be might want to hurt her. In a sense of panic, Tukiko began to back up, trying to get to her feet. The person drew closer and closer, making her eyes widened._

_Panicked, Tukiko scrambled to her feet, turning around to start running._

_"Hey, wait!" a teen's voice cut through the darkness to her. Tukiko paused at the voice, her better judgement telling her to while her survival voice told her to run. She listened to her first inner voice. She turned slightly with her Sharingan activating just in case. What she saw shocked her._

_Now that her Sharingan was activated, Tukiko could see through the dark to see a boy about three years older than her. She was surprised to see long blond hair that was like a shower curtain in front of the boy's face. Half of his hair covered the left side of his face while the other half showed a sky blue eye that she hadn't seen anywhere before. Even with his hair in his face, Tukiko could see the Iwa hitai-ate on his forehead. She gritted her teeth at the boy and clenched her fists. She glared at the boy._

_"Who are you?"_

_The boy was near her by then and paused just a few feet away from her. The lightning flashed so that Tukiko could clearly see the surprised look on the boy's face. It disappeared as a smirk appeared on his face._

_"I don't think I should tell you, kid. You might be a ninja or something," the boy said. She narrowed her eyes._

_"How could I be a ninja when you're the ninja between the two of us?" Tukiko retorted._

_"Well, that's true. I don't see a village hitai-ate on you, kid." The boy shrugged._

_Tukiko scowled and put her hands on her hips. "Stop calling me kid, you jerk!! I have a name, you know."_

_"Too bad I don't know it." He smirked again which only irriatted her to no end. Even if she was an Uchiha, she didn't like it when people just smirked or something. That would mean that they were hiding something. "I don't even know if you would tell me your name or not."_

_"I'll tell you as long as you don't tell anyone else. People are sort of looking for me."_

_Tukiko was referring to the fact that Konoha was still looking for her even though it has been five years since she left. It was still wierd too. People would think they would have given up the search on her. Two years ago, she spotted someone with the Konoha hitai-ate on them asking about her. After hearing that, she bolted out of the town before they found her._

_The boy's smirk grew wider. "Well, I can trust you and vice versa, hm. I won't tell anyone as long as you do the same for me."_

_Tukiko nodded. She was a trustworthy person even if it was to a boy who was a ninja from Iwa.. She gave a small smile out of politeness._

_"My name is Tukiko Uchiha." She stepped forward to stand in front of the boy and curtisied. "Pleasure to meet you even though it's kind of raining."_

_The boy laughed, breaking the ice between the two._

_"That's true, yeah. My name is Deidara." He held out his hand to shake Tukiko's hand. She shook it and she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Miss Tukiko Uchiha."_

_Tukiko's eyes widened. How could this guy know she was a girl when all other people mistakened her for a boy when they first saw her?_

_"You know I'm a girl and not a boy?" she asked increduously._

_Deidara nodded, chuckling._

_"Of course I knew. I'm mistakened for a girl sometimes so I can tell that you're a girl, yeah. Guess we have something in common, huh?"_

_Tukiko nodded and laughed. Her Sharingan deactivated to the warm grey they always were. For some reason, she felt safer around Deidara though she didn't know why. Maybe they would get along...Tukiko really hoped so._

_Little did both of them know, they would grow closer than anyone expected..._

_---_

Tukiko woke up from that strange dream, feeling tears slide down the edges of her eyes. Seeing the clear blue sky, she quickly wiped away her tears, sniffling. She sat up from where she had been napping on the grass on the hill just outside the village. She had come out there to relax ever since she had been promoted to chunin after her fight with Neji. All of this stress needed to get out and this was her way of getting it out. By napping. This was a bad idea because the stress was only added to with that dream she just had of Deidara.

She sighed, standing to her feet. _I still miss him ever since I left him two years ago._

It had been so long since she had just seen him. Tukiko sighed again, walking back to the village. Passing by the gates, she gave a wave as she passed the chunins at the front and proceeded to walk home. She was a bit depressed. Now that all the drama of being engaged to Neji was done and over with, she was depressed on not seeing Deidara anymore. However, it was a bit ironic that Neji was her best friend now when he was her ex-fiance.

Tukiko silently giggled as she walked back to the Uchiha compound. She still thought it was funny that Neji was her best friend now that all of the hostility of that stupid engagement was over with. She got along quite well with him now. She was in the compound now and almost home. She arrived home and walked inside. The house was completely silent as she walked in. She expected this since she didn't expect to have someone greet her. But just as she was taking off her shoes, she heard a crash in her kitchen. She stood statue still, waiting for something. Then she heard silent cursing following that crash.

_Oh, shoot! Someone's in my house!_ Tukiko thought frantically. She wasn't worried about getting hurt or anything since she was a ninja and all. What she did worry about was if that person had taken anything. Her family's valuables were around the house, especially her mother's favorite crystal angel. Her mother had recieved that from her mother and her mother had gotten it from _her_ mother and so on. It was like a family heirloom and priceless. If that was taken from her, Tukiko wouldn't know what to do. She reached for a kunai knife that she always kept in her pocket (she wasn't wearing her ninja equipment since it was her day off) and creapt silently into her home. Using all her skills as a ninja, Tukiko creapt all the way to her kitchen. She made it all the way to the doorway then pressed her back to the wall beside it, surpressing her chakra. Inside of the kitchen, she could hear the voices more clearly.

"When is she going to be home?" a male's voice sounded in her ears. It sounded irritated. "I don't like to wait."

"Oh, be patient, Sasori no Danna. I'm sure she'll get here soon, hm. Right Itachi?" another male voice asked. Though for some reason, that voice was very familiar. Both the voice and his speech sounded all familiar to her. Tukiko was shocked when she heard her brother's name but was even more so when hearing his voice.

"Hn, I suppose. Imouto likes to spend her time out of houses and outdoors."

There was a sigh.

"Itachi-san, I know you love your sister but why did you have to bring Sasori and Deidara?" Tukiko let out a silent gasp as the voice of that shark guy that was with Itachi before spoke. "They probably don't even know your sister!"

"Hn."

Tukiko's eyes widened when Shark guy said a name. The same one that she had been dreaming about earlier. He was here? There was no possible way! They hadn't seen each other for nearly two years! She jumped when Itachi called her nickname for her.

"Imouto, come out."

_Shoot! He noticed that I was here no matter how much I surpressed my chakra! _Tukiko silently scolded herself. How could she not have surpressed her chakra even more? Itachi was one of the most skilled ninjas out there. She heaved a heavy sigh and stepped into the kitchen. What she saw shocked her.

There in her kitchen stood four people. Two of them were familiar to her (Itachi and Shark guy) but the other two were new to her. One of them had pale red hair that hung slightly over his brown eyes. He looked really bored with his arms folded and leaning against her counter. The other guy was taller than the first, leaning against the counter next to the red haired guy. He had blond hair that was tied up in a ponytail and his bangs hung over his left side of his face. The right side of his face showed a shining sky blue eye. Tukiko thought it was strange that all four of them wore the same thing: a black cloak with a red cloud pattern. All four of them faced the doorway as she entered.

Getting over her shock, Tukiko became alert as she saw that four Akatsuki members were in her kitchen. She activated her Sharingan, putting her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

All of them were unaffected by the Sharingan. Actually, the blond haired guy laughed.

"_That's _your little sister? She looks pitiful when she has that activated," he said, laughing.

Tukiko growled, narrowing her eyes. Her eyes scanned this guy, studying his face. For some reason, this guy was very familiar to her. Her eyes came across the Iwa headband he had on his forehead. They widened when seeing the slash across the metal. She deactivated her Sharingan, staring at the guy in shock. All four of the Akatsuki members raised their eyebrows at her. Her mouth had opened to say something but closed in shock.

"Itachi-san, what's wrong with your sister?" Sasori asked in amusement.

"Imouto, are you all right?" Itachi asked. He walked over to his sister to check if she was fine. When he was near her, Tukiko backed up. Her hand was pressed to her mouth in shock. Itachi became even more concerned and grabbed his sister gently. "Imouto, please say something."

Tukiko pushed Itachi away, staring at the blond haired guy instead. She felt like crying when seeing him. Her lips moved into a name as tears fell down her cheeks.

"_Deidara-kun...I can't believe it's you..."_

Itachi was shocked that his sister had formed words and yet had not spoken them. He was even more when she said his collegue's name. He stared back and forth at Deidara and Tukiko in some confusion. Deidara seemed shocked as well.

"Deidara, do you know Tukiko?" Itachi asked in a cold tone.

Deidara's mouth dropped when hearing the name. His eyes widened in recognition.

"I-Itachi, your s-sister is T-Tukiko? Why didn't you tell me, yeah!?"

Now Shark guy and Sasori looked shocked.

"You know his sister?" they asked simoultanously.

No one was looking at Tukiko until she leapt at Deidara. Deidara caught her just as they both fellt to the ground. Itachi was more surprised with his sister as Tukiko leaned down to Deidara's face and placed her lips on his, her tears dripping down to the male's face. There was a whistle from Shark guy.

"Looks like Deidara has a fangirl!" he said in a singsongy tone.

Tukiko pulled away from the kiss to glare at Shark guy. Itachi glared at his sister then at Deidara. Deidara laughed nervously, gently grabbing Tukiko and setting her on the ground next to them. He sat up in an indian style and the moment he sat up, Tukiko grabbed onto him, snuggling into his arm and placing her head on his shoulder. A wide smile was on her face.

"Um, Itachi this isn't what it-" Deidara started. Itachi interuppted him, his own Sharingan activating and spinning wildly in his eyes.

"Explain. Now." His tone was icy cold that it made the whole room's temperature lowered. Kisame and Deidara actually shivered while Sasori passed it off.

Tukiko pouted, standing to her feet and placing her hands on her hips. Instead of using sign language, she formed words on her lips. "_Aniki, leave Deidara-kun alone! If you should blame someone it should be on me instead."_

"How do you know Deidara?" Itachi asked in that same icy tone.

"How _does_ your sister know the brat?" Sasori asked, seeming bored and checking his painted nails but he was interested as well.

"_Deidara-kun and I met when I was ten years old. He found me out in a huge thunderstorm when I was in the Earth country and brought me back to Iwa where I lived there for awhile. I also had to stay with him," _Tukiko explained. She giggled. "_I remember that at first we fought all the time. We fought over who used the bathroom first, who would make dinner the next night and who would be the one to clean the house."_

"Oh, I remember that!" Deidara said. He, also, could lip read. He chuckled at the memories. "You wouldn't leave me alone for the first two months, yeah. It was really annoying since you kept begging me to teach you about my art."

"_I wasn't begging you to teach me about your art. I only remember that I was badmouthing about your art while I really begged you to teach me some earth jutsus."_

"Details, details." He waved off her explanation.

Tukiko stuck her tongue out at him, scowling. "_Anyways, after the first two months had passed, we decided that we had to get along somehow. We couldn't find anything in common at first but then Deidara forced me to witness his art when we were sparring. I had to admit it was good but I totally kicked his butt the first time. He admitted that I was good and I actually admitted that his art was pretty good. We have no idea what happened after that but we sorta...kinda..."_ She blushed a deep red at the memory she was having. She smiled shyly at Itachi. "_Fell in love?"_

After she said that, Tukiko flinched as if she was expecting something bad were about to happen. She was right about that reaction. At first, Itachi just blinked a few times, letting all of the information sink in. During this time, Kisame and Sasori decided that it was the right time to leave.

"So, I guess this is between the three of you so me and Sasori will be going now," Shark guy said, edging towards the door. He ran out the door and left before he could get an answer.

"We'll be going now. Good luck, brat." Sasori smirked at Deidara and left the same way as Shark guy did. And now it was just the three of them there.

Itachi blinked a few more times, finally getting what they said. His eyes narrowed at Deidara. Deidara paled considerably, backing up until his back hit the base of the counter. Itachi's Sharingan soon started to morph into something that resembled a shuriken.

"Deidara..." Itachi was beyond furious. How dare one of his collegues-one of the new ones at that-fall in _love_ with his one and only little sister?! Tukiko was only thirteen! She couldn't know what love was! That Deidara probably tricked her! Itachi felt ready to use his Mangekyou Sharingan on the teen that cowered before him. But Tukiko had stepped in between the two, glaring at Itachi with her own Sharingan.

_"I said don't blame Deidara-kun for this, Itachi! I knew that you would react this way if I ever told you I fell in love with someone!" _Tukiko was furious as well. Itachi had no right to be getting ready to attack the one she loved. Why did her older brother have to be so overprotective of her!? And why now of all times?! Plus, why was he acting like her older brother now when the first time they saw each other again, he acted all cold to her?! God, she hated Itachi right now! Tukiko was so mad at Itachi that she felt her vision turning as red as her Sharingan. Itachi felt like he was getting more surprised than the rest of his life when he saw that his sister's two tomoe Sharingan started to change. Both of her commas melted together and turned into something that resembled a three bladed fuma shuriken with a cicle connecting all of them near her black pupil. Tukiko gritted her teeth. "_If you dare touch Deidara-kun, I swear I'll torture you to death."_

Itachi got over his shock and became curious about her eyes. "So...Imouto...Who did you kill?" he asked in a calm tone.

Deidara and Tukiko blinked.

"Kill?" Deidara asked. "Who did Tukiko kill?"

Tukiko blinked once again, too confused on her brother's words. She got out of her defensive stance and turned to Deidara to help him up. Deidara took one look at her eyes and started gaping at her. Tukiko tilted her head, confused with her boyfriend's actions.

"_What? Is something on my face?"_

"Uh, Tukiko? You might want to take a look at your eyes," Deidara told her, getting to his feet.

Tukiko felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to face a handheld mirror that Itachi was holding up in front of her. She took one look at her eyes and gaped just like Deidara. She blinked several times. What in the world had happened to her eyes?! Why did they look like that?

_Wait a second!_

She looked closer at the mirror eyes, touching the surface of the mirror with her fingers. Now that she mentioned it, her eyes looked a lot like that red and black pool that she had fell in when she was still unconsious. What was going on? Tukiko thought back to the dream that she had when she was unconsious. She remembered that before she fell in that pool, she was sitting by a dead Sasuke. He even said that he had killed her when Tukiko would never dare do that. Sasuke was her...best friend...She gasped in horror.

_Oh no! My body went through an emotional stress where it felt like I killed Sasuke so when that happened...!_

_"I gained the Mangkyou Sharingan!?_"

"Yes. You did. Now who did you kill?" Itachi asked again, lowering the mirror. He saw that Tukiko's eyes started to disform and go back to the regular Sharingan. But instead of two tomoes, Tukiko now had three.

Tukiko shook her head. "_I didn't kill anyone. I just went through a weird dream where I _felt_ like I killed Sasuke, who was my best friend at the time."_

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke? You mean your twin brother?"

She nodded.

"But Sasuke is still alive, isn't he?"

She nodded again.

"So how the heck do you have those eyes when you didn't kill him, yeah!?"

Tukiko frowned. She wasn't sure if she should tell her brother and Deidara about what had happened with the curse mark. Seeing Itachi's glaring/concerned eyes and Deidara's equal concerned eyes, Tukiko saw that she had no choice but to tell them. With a heavy sigh, she started to tell them about the curse mark and the effects of the sealing and divide Kakashi performed. When it came to the part when she had tell them that she became mute because of Sasuke leaving, she had to hold back tears. She finished by telling them that she was fine now, Itachi and Deidara becme furious.

"Fine?! Tukiko, how could you be fine, yeah!? You're mute! And it was because your brother left!" Deidara yelled at her, outraged. He hated Sasuke for making his own sister mute while he could train and became stronger. He hurt the one girl Deidara loved and Sasuke didn't give a damn! "When I get my hands on that brat, I'll kill him, yeah!"

"I don't mind if you kill Sasuke if I can torture him first," Itachi said, equally outraged. He didn't mind that Sasuke left for power but when it came to harming their one and only sister, he was going to kill his little brother even if it was supposed to be the other way around.

"_Aniki, stop it! I really am fine!" _Tukiko said hastily. She gave a genuine smile at the two of them. "_I promise that I'm fine. I may dislike Sasuke now but fine overall. I have my friends and you guys to keep me happy. I don't need that jerk of a brother to feel like I'm not alone. Promise!"_

The two males stared at Tukiko, seeing that she was genuinely fine with everything that had happened to her. They glanced at each other and sighed.

"Fine. I guess I'm okay with it too," Deidara grumbled, scowling at the wall.

"Hn," Itachi grunted, meaning that he was reluctantly fine with it as well.

Tukiko smiled widely, glad that both males that she loved was actually fine with the past few days. Then she noticed something that she should have at the beginning. Her smile fell as she stared at the two. "_Uh, Aniki? Deidara-kun? I forgot to mention this but how exactly do you two know each other?"_

Deidara saw her lips and froze. He laughed nervously while Itachi didn't say a thing but stared at him. saying with his eyes that he was to explain everything. And when he said everything, he meant _everything._ At that moment, Deidara hated Itachi even more.

So Deidara moved onto telling Tukiko everything that had happened after they parted. He said that after she left, the village started to disrespect his art and couldn't appreciate it so he left, becoming an ex-Iwa ninja. He started to get hired by people who wanted to bomb things and he accepted each one because he got to use his art. But soon, Itachi, Shark guy-Tukiko later learned his name was Kisame-and Sasori had come to recruit him into the Akatsuki. At first, Deidara refused but then Itachi made a wager. If he could beat the bomber, then he would come with them quietly and join Akatsuki. Deidara took him up on that wager, confident that he was going to win but he lost because he looked into Itachi's Sharingan, trapped in a genjutsu. So he joined Akatsuki and he's been there ever since.

Tukiko was shocked with all of the information. Her boyfriend joined the one organization her brother was in and that was after Naruto? She couldn't believe it. The Akatsuki was dangerous and ruthless! How could Deidara join that group?

_Well, it _was_ against his will so I guess he couldn't help it._

She was still mad for some reason but not at Deidara. Instead, it was at Itachi. He forced Deidara to join!

"_Well, are you happy in that group than when you were in Iwa?"_ She asked him.

Deidara shrugged. "I've been alright in there. I get to use my art all the time and I have nothing better to do, yeah. So I guess I am okay in there."

Tukiko bit her lip and sighed. If Deidara was happy then she should be happy with it, if not on a somewhat level. She sighed and smiled, perking up.

"_Well, if you're fine with it then I am too."_

Deidara smiled, happy that Tukiko was fine with the fact he was in an S-ranked criminal organization.

"Thanks, Kiko-chan. This is why I probably fell in love with you."

Tukiko turned a deep red and giggled. It was great that Deidara said he loved her. He leaned down to kiss her and Tukiko had to go on her tippy toes to get to his height since Deidara was tall. They stopped in their tracks when they heard a "Hem hem!" They both turned to see that it was Itachi. He glared at the both of them.

"Please refrain from kissing when I am in the vicinity."

They both turned red and pulled away. Then they laughed nervously.

"Sorry, Itachi (_Aniki)_."

Tukiko checked the time on the kitchen clock to see that it was getting close to dinner time.

"_Hey, guys? Want to stay for dinner?"_

Both males nodded. Although neither of them would admit it but they loved Tukiko's cooking. Since she had been practicing since she was four, she had gotten quite good at cooking.

Tukiko smiled and went to go get dinner ready. As she was pulling out cooking ingrediants from the refridgerator, she turned to Deidara, an eyebrow raised.

"_Hey, Deidara? What about your two friends? Should I cook for them too?"_

"Don't bother, Imouto. They are probably halfway across the country by now," Itachi said, settling down at the traditional table where they used to dine on.

She raised her eyebrow higher but she shrugged and continued with making dinner.

---

Tukiko sat on the roof of her house, staring at the full moon above. She hugged her naked knees as she sat in her pajamas: shorts and a tanktop. She smiled at the moon, thinking back on what recently happened.

Deidara, Itachi, and Tukiko had a great time at dinner; more than she actually expected. For the first time in days, Tukiko had fun doing things like having dinner with friends and family. She was always so busy with her Chunin duties now a days that she didn't have time to have dinner with any of her friends. After dinner, the two Akatsuki members had to leave but they both promised to visit Tukiko when ever they had the time. That was a relief because she hated parting with her brother and boyfriend. After they left, Tukiko changed clothes and came up to the roof to think.

_My life has certainly been more different than when I was traveling_, Tukiko thought with a smile. _First I become a kunoichi, then I enter an exam where I've gotten bitten by a snake-like man, had almost died at the hands of a psychotic Jinchurriki, had my own twin brother hurt me deeply and who also took my curse mark, almost died again, became mute, made friends, had a fight against my ex-fiance-now-best-friend, and saw my beloved again. Oh, and I became a chunin!_ She sighed. _Who knew all of these things would happen if I returned back to the village?_

Tukiko didn't mind all of these things that had happened. Actually, she was thankful for them. If she hadn't gone through all of that hurt and pain, she would not be the person she was now. She could have done without the 'mute' part but she would live with it. Who knew that the choice of returning home would do all of this?

She laid her chin on top of her knees, smiling and hugging her knees close to her chest.

_And you know what? I don't regret the choice of returning home. I wouldn't be a ninja like I dreamed to be if I hadn't._

Tukiko hoped that the future would bring more good things to her life. But for now, all she was going to do was stay with her head in the present and enjoy life to the fullest.

---

And there you have it! The last chapter of 'The Uchiha sister'! I wanted to update this earlier than usual. I just want to get this over with and get onto the sequel! The sequel is called _Destined to happen_ by the way. I might come up with a better title but I usually stick with the one's I first come up with. Check it out!

And thank you for all you lovely people who have stuck with me to the end of this part! I would have never thought that a simple story I came up with on the spot would become so popular. The sub plot of this (the Uchiha-Hyuga engagement) was also made on spot to give the story more depth. I tried very hard not to make Tukiko not seem like a Mary sue but a lot of people have said that she probably is. But oh well. Most of the greatest books ever written have Mary Sues in them. For example, Bella from _Twilight!_ She's a Mary Sue and she is really popular though I think that's because of Edward. But still, I'm pretty proud of Tukiko. She's really grown.

This is the last one so please review and check out the sequel. Bye!


End file.
